The effectiveness of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) on premature infant health progression in a neonatal care unit in Maternity and Children’s Hospital, Jeddah

Abstract

Background: Preterm birth is considered to be the largest direct cause of neonatal mortality. Of all early neonatal deaths that have occurred within the first 7 days of life, 28% are due to preterm birth. The Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) decreases risk of mortality, infection severity, increases infant growth, breastfeeding, and mother-infant attachment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Kangaroo Mother Care on premature health progression in the neonatal care unit in the Maternity and Children’s Hospital, Jeddah.

Method: Study Design: A quasi-experimental design was chosen, using data collected via the Kangaroo Mother Care Assessment Flow Sheet.

Setting: Maternity and Children’s Hospital (MCH) Al-Mousaa'dya branch, a Ministry of Health (MOH) Governmental hospital, Jeddah, KSA

Sample: A convenient Sample of thirty premature neonates who fulfilled the inclusion criteria who were admitted on the neonatal intensive care unit at the mentioned setting during data collection period. Permission had been obtained from all mothers of participating infants. A control group was used for comparison.

Tools and instruments: The data were collected using the Kangaroo Mother Care Assessment Flow Sheet.

Result: the survival rate of study group is very high as no death was noted, no statistical differences before and after KMC but the data showed that the health status of neonate was stabilized, also findings showed that weight gain increased from 1.36 kg in the first attempt to 1.48 Kg in the fifth attempt. Regarding length of stay, study group neonate had higher length of hospitalization (48±19.87) comparing to other studies

Conclusion: Kangaroo Mother Care maintains all premature neonatal physiological parameters and weight gain while the neonatal length of stay in current study was high compared to other global studies.

Recommendation: There is a necessity to implement KMC at all NICU in Ministry of Health Hospitals, to develop a protocol and guidelines for KMC implementation. To organize continuing nurse training and education program for neonatal intensive care units nurses. Further studies should be conducted on a larger scale in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for generalizability and to study the factors of prolonged neonatal length of stay on NICU.