Kangaroo Mother Care and Outcomes in Low Birth Weight Infants: An Updated Review
Department of Paediatrics, Children's Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Corresponding Author: Saha P, Doctus Journal of Paediatrics.
Abstract
Kangaroo mother care is recommended for low birth weight infants, but implementation in busy public facilities is uneven. This review covers 42 trials and cohort studies published since 2015, examining mortality, thermoregulation, breastfeeding establishment and duration of stay. Benefit is consistent and largest where care begins within 24 hours of birth and is sustained beyond eight hours daily. Studies reporting shorter or interrupted contact show attenuated effect, which explains much of the heterogeneity in earlier meta-analyses. The principal barrier reported across facility-based studies is not maternal willingness but the absence of a designated space and staffing to support prolonged contact.
Keywords
Kangaroo Mother Care; Low Birth Weight; Neonatal Mortality; Thermoregulation; Breastfeeding; Implementation
How to Cite
Saha P and Dutta N. “Kangaroo Mother Care and Outcomes in Low Birth Weight Infants: An Updated Review”. Doctus Journal of Paediatrics 1.8 (2025): 51-68.
Copyright and Licence
© 2025 Saha P. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.