Adaptation of kangaroo mother care to Indian situation: A pilot study

Purpose: Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is known to reduce neonatal mortality. However, its uptake is low in many countries including India. It is likely that baring the chest during skin-to-skin contact (SSC), when wearing a gown, is not acceptable to an Indian woman. Hence, KMC with SSC was compared with skin-blouse-skin (SBS) contact for provision of warmth. Materials and Methods: The study performed on eight low birth weight babies. The baby was in SSC on the first day of the study and in SBS contact, i.e. a cotton blouse in between, on the next day. The baby was held in upright position by a large piece of sari tied like a kitchen apron around the waist and the neck. Plantar sole, atmospheric and rectal temperatures were recorded every 30 minutes for two hours on the study days (Fig. 1). The skin, atmospheric and rectal temperatures were recorded by electronic thermometer (Meditrin, India). A ‘t’ test was applied to see if the difference between the mean atmospheric, plantar sole and rectal temperature by two methods was statistically significant. Results: There was no significant difference between atmospheric, rectal and skin (sole) temperatures in the two methods of contact. Conclusions: SBS and SSC contact are comparable in keeping a baby warm. Practice implications: Improvised SSC; i.e. SBS may find better acceptance by an Indian woman wearing a sari and a blouse since, it does not bare the chest. Keywords: Neonatal mortality, Low birth weight baby, Keeping a baby warm, Kangaroo mother care, Skin-to-skin contact.