Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low-birth-weight infants
Every year, more than 20 million infants are born weighing less than 2.5kg – over 96% of them in developing countries. These low-birth-weight (LBW) infants are at increased risk of early growth retardation, infectious disease, developmental delay and death during infancy and childhood.
Conventional neonatal care of LBW infants is expensive and needs both highly skilled personnel and permanent logistic support. Evidence suggests that kangaroo mother care is a safe and effective alternative to conventional neonatal care, especially in under-resourced settings and may reduce morbidity and mortality in LBW infants as well as increase breastfeeding. Kangaroo mother care involves:
- early, continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn
- frequent and exclusive breastfeeding
- early discharge from hospital.
WHO recommendations
Kangaroo mother care is recommended for the routine care of newborns weighing 2000 g or less at birth, and should be initiated in health-care facilities as soon as the newborns are clinically stable.
Newborns weighing 2000 g or less at birth should be provided as close to continuous Kangaroo mother care as possible.
Intermittent Kangaroo mother care, rather than conventional care, is recommended for newborns weighing 2000 g or less at birth, if continuous Kangaroo mother care is not possible.
Additional information can be found in the guidelines under 'WHO documents' below.
WHO documents
GRC-approved guidelines
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WHO recommendations on interventions to improve preterm birth outcomes
Publication date: 2015
Other guidance documents
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Pocket book of hospital care for children: second edition. Guidelines for the management of common illnesses with limited resources
Publication date: 2013 -
Kangaroo mother care: a practical guide
Publication date: 2003
Evidence
Systematic reviews used to develop the guidelines
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Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants
Conde-Agudelo A, Belizán JM, Diaz-Rossello J.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2011; Issue 3. Art. No.: CD002771.
Related Cochrane reviews
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Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants
Conde-Agudelo A, Díaz-Rossello JL.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD002771. -
Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants
Moore ER, Bergman N, Anderson GC, Medley N.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016; Issue 11. Art. No.: CD003519.
Other related systematic reviews
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Kangaroo Mother Care and Neonatal Outcomes: A Meta-analysis
Boundy EO, Dastjerdi R, Spiegelman D, Fawzi WW, Missmer SA, Lieberman E, et al.
Pediatrics. 2016; 137(1):1-16. -
'Kangaroo mother care' to prevent neonatal deaths due to preterm birth complications
Lawn JE, Mwansa-Kambafwile J, Horta BL, Barros FC, Cousens S.
International Journal of Epidemiology. 2010; 39(Suppl. 1):i144–i154. -
Maternal satisfaction and clinical effect of kangaroo mother care in preterm infants: a meta‐analysis
Yu ZB, Han SP, Xu YQ, Weng L.
Chinese Journal of Evidence‐Based Medicine. 2008; 8(4):277–283.
