What is Kangaroo Mother Care?
- Introduction...
- 1. What is KMC ?...
- 2. What is Kangaro...
- 3. What are the es...
- 4. Is KMC and rout...
- 5. Advantages of K...
- 6. What are the ad...
- 7. What are the ad...
- 8. What are the ad...
- 9. What are the ad...
- 10. Key messages...
Introduction
Dr. RUCHI NANAVATI
MD, DM (Neonatology)
Head of Department
Department of Neonatology
Seth GS & King Edward Memorial Hospital
Parel, Mumbai
1. What is KMC ?
► KMC is a comprehensive, low cost method of care of the
stable LBW infants
► Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC)
♦ Early and prolonged skin-to-skin contact with the
mother (or a substitute caregiver)
♦ Exclusive and frequent breastfeeding
2. What is Kangaroo Mother Care ?
► KMC is an effective way for
♦ Provision of warmth
♦ Promoting breastfeeding
♦ Protection from infection
♦ Promoting bonding
3. What are the essential components of KMC?
► Skin-to-skin contact
► Exclusive breast feeding
4. Is KMC and routine skin-to-skin care at birth same?
► KMC should not be confused with routine skin-to-skin care
at birth
► World Health Organization (WHO) recommends skin-to-skin
care immediately after delivery for every newborn, irrespective
of the birth weight to ensure warmth and early initiation of
breast feeding in the delivery room
► KMC is meant for stable LBW infants and denotes a sustained,
long duration skin-to-skin contact
5. Advantages of KMC
► To baby
► To mother
► To family
► To community
6. What are the advantages of KMC to the baby?
► KMC decreases
♦ Hypothermia
♦ Hypoglycemia
♦ Apnea
♦ Pain
♦ Infection
♦ Oxygen requirement
♦ Hospital stay
► Increases weight gain and follow up rates
► Improves physiological stability and overall health and
 well being
7. What are the advantages of KMC to the mother?
► Promotes lactation and facilitates the feeding interaction
► Increases rate & duration of exclusive breastfeeding
► Reduces maternal stress
► Empowers parents: stronger bonding, increased confidence,
and deep satisfaction due to active involvement in care of
the baby
8. What are the advantages of KMC to the family?
► KMC saves money as the baby is discharged early from
hospital and hence father can resume duty early
► KMC babies are more healthy and have better IQ
► KMC decreases child abuse and abandonment
9. What are the advantages of KMC to the community?
► Reduces the health care cost significantly as KMC saves money
on artificial feeds, antibiotics and other medicines, equipment
as well as prolonged hospital stay required during
conventional care
10. Key messages
► The bonding between mother and fetus is interrupted because
of preterm birth
► KMC reestablishes the bonding
► KMC is actually our normal biology & brain development is
only normal; skin to skin contact on the mother
► KMC satisfies all five senses of the infant. The infant feels the
mother’s warmth through skin-to-skin contact (touch),
listens to her voice and heartbeat (hearing), sucks breast milk
(taste), has eye contact with her (vision) and smells her odour
(olfaction)