Premature Babies Given ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ More Likely To Survive Long Years Than Premature Babies Given Incubator Care, A Study Confirms

Premature babies who were given 'kangaroo mother care,' were most likely to thrive better than those premature babies put in incubators, a groundbreaking research finds out. The Kangaroo care is a technique that involves skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, with the newborn nested on the mother's chest in a 'kangaroo' way. Researchers found out that those treated skin-to-skin contacts were lesser prone to impulsive, hyperactive and aggressive behavior than to those who got incubator care.

The World Health Organization reported that around 15 million premature babies are conceived every year. Early birth problems are the top cause of death in children below 5, accountable for almost 1 million deaths among children in 2015. Now it will be changed as a groundbreaking research found out a way to confront the problem: a kangaroo mother care.

For the research, researchers tracked down 264 premature infants who received either incubator care or kangaroo mother care till they could uphold their body temperature. After 20 years, the researchers compared the developments of the babies treated with kangaroo care and incubator care.

Eureka Alert has learned that the researchers found out that: The kangaroo cared babies have spent around 23 percent more time at preschool; had less than half the ratio of absenteeism in school; have roughly 53 percent higher for their average hourly salaries; have higher percentage raised up by both parents; have 16 percent lower scores for hyperactivity and aggressiveness; have larger brains; and showed a small but huge advantage in general intelligence compared to premature babies treated with incubator care. Overall, the study, according to Daily Mail, shows that kangaroo care gives low birth weight and premature babies a better chance of survival.

Dr. Nathalie Charpak, lead author of the research said that this research indicates that kangaroo care has significant, long-lasting social and behavioral protective effects 20 years after the intervention. She added that the findings of their study should notify the modalities of social, psychological and medical postnatal interferences like Kangaroo Mother Care so that they can continue to lessen the conditions triggered by low birth weight and prematurity.