Sensitive Midwifery - Issue 43 - July2019

Mom & Baby The Kangaroo Care story Internationally renowned Head of the KMC Unit at Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria, Dr Elise van Rooyen, shares KMC’s history and value. M aternal-infant skin-to-skin contact and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) for low-birth-weight (LBW) infants was initiated by doctors Rey and Martinez, in Bogotá, Colombia in 1979. This was prompted by shortages of staff and equipment, an unacceptable high mortality and infection rate in their neonatal unit and the burden of a large number of infants who were abandoned by their mothers. Infants who were considered for this regime were LBW infants in stable condition. This decreased overcrowding in the incubators as well as in the neonatal unit, and the infection and mortality rate decreased dramatically. It also improved mother-to-infant bonding with a reduction in abandoned infants. KMC consists of kangaroo position, kangaroo nutrition and kangaroo discharge, which is underpinned by a supportive environment in the healthcare facility and at home: • Kangaroo position refers to the nursing of a LBW infant skin-to-skin on the mother’s chest. • Kangaroo nutrition aims at establishing exclusive breastfeeding. • Kangaroo discharge is possible once the infant is feeding satisfactorily and weight gain is maintained, much sooner than current practice. In the words of the Bogotá Declaration of 4 December 1998: ‘Kangaroo- Mother Care should be a basic right of the newborn, it should be an integral part of the management of low birth weight and full term newborns, in all settings and levels of care in all countries.’ KMC benefits everyone While the benefits to the hospital include significant cost-savings, improved staff morale, better survival and improved quality care, the benefits to Mom and Baby are especially heartening. Benefits to the baby: • Maintenance of adequate body temperature • More quiet sleep periods • Fewer energy-consuming movements, resulting in satisfactory weight gain • Increased initiation and duration of breastfeeding with more infants receiving exclusive breastfeeding • No additional risk of infection and reduction of the occurrence and severity of nosocomial infections Continued on page 19 18 eSensitive Midwifery Magazine Issue 43