Kangaroo Mother Care: Benefits, Types, & Procedure

A preterm baby needs extra care, and it is natural for a first-time mother to be apprehensive about handling one. Kangaroo Mother Care offers guidelines that are designed to guide mothers through the crucial first few weeks of a baby’s life. It is a special method of care that helps low birth weight babies or premature babies connect with their mothers and derive safety and comfort by being in close contact. Why is it called kangaroo mother care? Female kangaroos, too, keep their newborns close to them to nurture. This helps nurture the bond between the mother and the baby. Let’s dive deep into this practice of caring for babies and provide our little ones the same.

What Is Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC)?

Kangaroo Mother Care, or KMC, is a straightforward practice of caring for newborn babies, especially preterm infants. The method involves prolonged or continuous skin-to-skin contact with the mother, father, or caregiver, starting immediately after the birth of the child (1). It is a potent technique to promote the health and general well-being of preterm and full-term infants. This technique has also proven effective in reducing the infant mortality rate of low birth weight or preterm infants (2). Thus, KMC not only provides care but is believed to have extraordinary benefits for infants by providing basic survival needs such as the mother’s warmth, breast milk, stimulation, and protection.

Types of Kangaroo Mother Care

Kangaroo Mother Care can be provided to newborns in two ways:

1. Intermittent KMC

Intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is given only when a mother visits her newborn baby, who receives care in an incubator. This type of KMC is not given daily.

2. Continuous KMC

This type of KMC is given to the infant all the time, day and night.

What Are the Essential Components of KMC?

Kangaroo mother care has three essential components:

1. Skin-To-Skin Contact or Kangaroo Position

The Kangaroo position involves the infant coming in skin-to-skin contact with the mother. The infant is placed on the mother’s chest, between her breasts. The primary feature of KMC is early, prolonged, and continuous contact between the mother and her baby.

2. Exclusive Breastfeeding or Kangaroo Nutrition

Kangaroo nutrition involves exclusive breastfeeding for the baby. The direct skin-to-skin contact helps in the production of breast milk, and it also helps the baby to suckle better, because of easy accessibility to the mother’s breasts. However, in some cases, the baby may be fed expressed breast milk. The direct skin-to-skin contact also helps strengthen the bond between the mother and her baby.

3. Support to the Mother and the Baby or Kangaroo Support

Kangaroo support involves providing medical, physical, or emotional support to the mother and the baby without separating them.

When Is KMC Care Needed?

Kangaroo mother care is needed to provide care and protection to the newborn baby so that the baby may heal and grow naturally. Kangaroo care was initially practised for low birth weight and preterm or premature babies. However, this technique benefits all healthy and sick infants as it ensures that necessities like the mother’s warmth, protection, and breast milk are given to the baby (3). So, KMC may be practised in the following cases:

• For premature or low birth weight babies in neonatal care
• For low birth weight and full-term babies
• For full-term babies or infants who are separated from their mothers due to some medical reasons
• To establish breastfeeding and a good milk supply.

What Are the Benefits of Kangaroo Care?

Kangaroo mother care advantages are undeniable, as the results are definite. Following are some of the advantages of Kangaroo mother care (4):

1. Reduced Neonatal Mortality Rate

As per a 2021 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, among infants with low birth weight who received immediate kangaroo mother care had lower mortality at 28 days compared to those who received conventional care where kangaroo mother care was started after stabilisation (5).

2. Better Adaptation to the Environment

Premature babies face the challenge of thermal regulation. KMC helps the baby come into skin-to-skin contact with the mother, which helps regulate the body temperature. Close contact with the mother makes it easier for the child to adapt to the new surroundings.

3. Helps Baby Sleep Better

Babies who are in close contact with their mothers tend to sleep better than babies who are in neonatal care units. This happens because the baby is less stressed and relaxed in the mother’s warmth.

4. Aids Better Mental Development

KMC promotes better sleeping patterns, stabilised heart rate, and oxygenation, which results in better brain development until adolescence. Babies who received KMC had better brain development than babies who were kept in incubators.

5. Makes Breastfeeding Convenient

Kangaroo mother care helps the baby to breastfeed exclusively, as the baby is placed close to the mother’s breast. Babies have a heightened sense of smell and tend to suckle instantaneously.

6. Promotes Healthy Weight Gain

KMC helps the baby gain weight. When the baby feels warm, it does not use its energy to stay warm. The mother’s warmth and protection help the baby suckle better, aiding in weight gain.

7. Reduces Baby’s Stress Levels

Close skin contact with the mother for a few minutes a day brings down the baby’s cortisol levels (the hormone responsible for stress). KMC also increases oxytocin, the cuddle hormone, which helps the baby feel relaxed.

8. Helps the Mother to Produce Milk

Close contact with the baby helps to regulate the hormone that helps in lactation. This promotes milk production in the mother’s body and makes breastfeeding easier.

9. Helps the Mother to Fight Postpartum Depression

KMC is beneficial for mothers as well, as skin-to-skin contact with the baby helps the mother’s anxiety levels to go down. It also promotes attachment with her baby and reduces the chances of postpartum depression.

10. Helps in Bonding With the Father

KMC is very useful in building a bond between the father and the baby. Skin contact with the father has a calming effect on the baby and helps in better bonding.

What Can Mothers Do While Starting Kangaroo Mother Care?

All mothers can provide KMC care or Kangaroo mother care for their babies. To become a kangaroo mom, the mother needs to consider the following before starting KMC for her baby:

1. Health and Nutrition: It is essential that the mother who wishes to start KMC is healthy and does not suffer from any serious illnesses. The mother should also take proper care of her nutrition and eat a well-balanced diet.
2. General Hygiene: It is essential for the mother to maintain proper hygiene. It is recommended that the mother should bathe or take a sponge bath regularly, change her clothes every day, and wash her hands frequently.
3. Support From Family Members: Apart from the mother, other family members may also help in KMC by spending some time giving skin-to-skin contact to the baby.
4. Comfortable Clothing: The mother can dress up in a front open dress, and the baby can be dressed in a nappy, cap, socks, and mittens. The main aim of KMC is to provide maximum skin to skin contact with the baby.

What Is the Procedure for Kangaroo Mother Care?

The procedure of skin-to-skin kangaroo care involves the following:

1. The baby should be placed in an upright position between the mother’s breasts.
2. The baby’s head should be placed to the side for easy breathing and eye contact with the mother.
3. The baby’s tummy should be placed on the mother’s upper abdomen.
4. The baby’s arms and legs should be folded.
5. A sling or a binder should support the baby’s bottom.

FAQs

1. What is Kangaroo discharge?

Kangaroo discharge is when the mother leaves the hospital with the newborn in the kangaroo position and continues to provide the kangaroo nutrition and care at home. One of the benefits of kangaroo mother care is that most low birth weight babies or premise can be discharged in a timely or early manner from the neonatal intensive to general baby care or at home, considering that KMC is being provided to the infant at home (3). This also reduces hospital stays, ultimately saving up on costs, and moms get to come home sooner. However, proper and timely kangaroo mother care is required with kangaroo discharge (6).

2. Can Kangaroo Mother Care be used for all babies, irrespective of prematurity?

While Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is primarily used for low birth weight infants and premature babies, babies of normal weight and gestational age can also receive KMC and its benefits. It can be given to babies irrespective of whether they are born at home, in a hospital, or in a clinic.

3. When can moms start Kangaroo Mother Care?

If vitals of the infant and the mother are healthy, the KMC can be given to the baby right after the birth. Once the baby is dried and examined and the cord is cut, KMC can begin. If a baby is ill at birth, KMC should be initiated once their condition stabilises. While a small, unstable infant is in an incubator, the mother should learn how to express breast milk so it can be given to the baby as soon as possible. All mothers who choose to breastfeed, especially those providing KMC, should know how to express breast milk.

4. What should be avoided during Kangaroo Mother Care?

Avoiding kangaroo care is a must if you are sick and if you have rash, cold sores, or open cuts. Keep your skin clean and dry, avoid smoking, and keep distractions like phones away while giving KMC to the infant (1).

Kangaroo mother care is very effective for the baby’s overall development and well-being. It can be started soon after birth and can be easily practised at home, too. The KMC can go on as long as the mother and the baby feel comfortable. If the baby wriggles and feels uncomfortable at any time when the mother tries skin-to-skin contact, KMC can be stopped. Any concerns or doubts about kangaroo mother care can be discussed with your doctor. It is recommended that professional medical help be sought to know about the correct procedure for KMC.

References/Resources:

1. Kangaroo Care; Cleveland Clinic; https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/12578-kangaroo-care

2. Chan. G. J, Valsangkar. B, Kajeepeta. S, Boundy. E. O, Wall. S; What is kangaroo mother care? Systematic review of the literature. J Glob Health.; PubMed Central; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871067/; June 2016

3. Kangaroo mother care; WHO; https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/367625/9789240071636-eng.pdf; 2023

4. Kangaroo mother care (KMC); The Implementation Toolkit for Small and Sick Newborn Care; https://www.newborntoolkit.org/toolkit/family-centered-care/kangaroo-mother-care?tab=overview

5. WHO Immediate KMC Study Group; Immediate “Kangaroo Mother Care” and Survival of Infants with Low Birth Weight; The New England Journal of Medicine; https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2026486; May 2021

6. Principles of Kangaroo Mother Care; Bettercare; https://bettercare.co.za/mother-and-baby-friendly-care/03.html#introduction-to-kangaroo-mother-care

Also Read:

Premature Baby Health Problems
Premature Babies Development Concerns
Tips to Take Care of Premature Baby at Home

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