The effect of kangaroo mother care on weight gain, stay lengthh and controlling temperature of preterm neonates with low birth weight in neonatal intensive care units of selected hospitals in Mashhad

Background and Objective: Care of the low birth weight (LBW) neonates in incubators is accompanied with effects such as delay in weight gain, prolonged hospitalization and caused hospital infections accordingly. One of the substitutive methods of incubator care is natural and non-invasive kangaroo mother care (KMC) in which infant are in skin-to-skin contact whit mother. In this study, it was aimed to review the effect of kangaroo mother care on weight gain, stay length and control of temperature with low birth weight in preterm neonates. Materials and Method: This clinical trial study was conducted on preterm neonates with the history of birth weight lower than 2500 in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of selected hospitals in Moshhad, Iran, in 2010. Fifty neonate were selected regarding to purposive sampling and were assigned into two groups (25 in intervention group, and 25 in control group). In the intervention group, infant and mother have skin-to-skin contact one hour a day. In the control group, the infant cared and fed according to routine schedule in NICU unit. The temperature degree was measured in two periods. The data were analyzed by chi square, independent t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) repeated measurements. Results: The mean of weight changes in the KMC group was 15g and 4g in control group which were statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.015). The mean staying period in the KMC group was 7.9 and 10.6 in control group which was statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.03). The changes of temperature in the two groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: KMC method had positive effect on gaining weight of preterm neonates and reduced hospitalized days in the NICU. It is recommended that health authorities act towards training KMC method to nurses and healthcare team members as obstacles to be overcome.