The Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) Duration on Physical Growth of Low Birth Weight Infants

Introduction &

Low birth weight is one of the major causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Although in different studies the effect of kangaroo mother care on the growth of low birth weight infants had been examined، this study was planned to determine the effect of duration of KMC on the growth of LBW infants in NICU، Fatemieh hospital، Hamadan، 2012.

This study is a randomized clinical trial on 115 under weight infants who were randomly assigned into two groups. Up to 4 hours a day new born infants in the first group and more than 4 hours the second group، were cared for by their mother using KMC method. Both groups were analyzed and evaluated with regard to their weight، body tempera-ture، oxygen saturation، frequency of feeding، and infection in the third and fifth days after KMC. Data were analyzed using SPSS software،? 2 and t-test.

Mean (SD) weight، oxygen saturation، frequency of feeding in the group receiving Kangaroo care more than 4 hours were more than the recipients of kangaroo care less than 4 hours (P<0. 05). Significant differences between the groups in terms of body temperature، infection، and mortality were not observed.

KMC more than 4 hours a day is more beneficial than that of less than 4 hours a day in terms of developmental and physiological measures in low birth weight infants. There-fore، it highly suggested that the health practitioners and policy makers consider the benefits، impacts and strategies to increase the duration of KMC.