‘Kangaroo’ care has been found to boost survival rates and brain development in premature babies.
The finding was made by researchers in Colombia, who looked into the benefits for premature babies who were breastfed exclusively and received continuous skin-to-skin contact.
The research findings, published in medical journal Peadiatrics, showed that preemies who received this intensive kangaroo mother care (KMC) developed into young adults who earned more and even had less stressful lives; this was in contrast to premature babies who received standard incubator care.
As part of the study, researchers randomly selected 264 premature babies and placed them into two groups: a group that received KMC treatment, and another group that received incubator treatment.
While the incubator regulated the warmth of the babies in the latter group, babies in the KMC group went home immediately; they were then breastfed exclusively, with skin-to-skin contact comforting them and keeping them warm.
Data belonging to both groups was gathered when they hit the age range of 18 to 20, and the results proved incredibly interesting.
Perhaps the most significant finding was that which showed the mortality rate to be lower among babies who received KMC care; it stood at 3.5 percent against the 7.7 percent of incubator-treated babies.
While KMC babies were found to have higher brain function and lead less-stressful lives, they were also found to earn higher salaries.
Lead researcher, Dr Nathalie Charpak, commented on the significance of the findings.
“This study indicates that kangaroo mother care has significant, long-lasting social and behavioural protective effects 20 years after the intervention,” she said,
Dr Charpak added: “We firmly believe that this is a powerful, efficient, scientifically based healthcare intervention that can be used in all settings, from those with very restricted to unrestricted access to healthcare.”
