Post Discharge Practice of Kangaroo Mother Care at Home in Anand, Gujarat, India

Background:

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) prevents /decreases hypothermia in neonates, with multiple other benefits and is a high impact intervention to reduce neonatal mortality. KMC is initiated in hospitals following delivery and is continued at home after discharge for better gains.

Objective:

To evaluate KMC practices at home among LBW and premature infants that began receiving KMC in the hospital.

Methods:

We surveyed mothers of babies admitted to NICU, who completed treatment and were advised to continue KMC at home. Medical record and contact details of neonates (N=97) that were admitted from Jan 2016 to Oct 2016 were obtained. Mothers were phoned and interviews were scheduled at home.

Results:

Of 120 mothers, 70 participated. 60(85.7%) neonates were preterm and mean(SD) discharge weight was 1.8(0.3) Kg. Mean (SD) age of mothers was 25.1(3.3) y. Most mothers 69(98.6) were explained benefits and method of KMC through charts, many 62(88.6) received reinforced advice during outpatient visits and most 68(97.1) reported practicing KMC at home. However, 39(55.7%) mothers provided KMC for 6 h per day. In 42(60%) cases, KMC was provided by other family member, 48(68.6%) said they had family support for daily work. There was maternal fatigue and pain [56(80%)], lack of house help support [48(68.6%)], and presence of sibling to look after [38(54.3%)]. Majority were motivated to provide KMC [62(88.6%)] and would advise other mothers for the same [69(98.6%)].

Conclusion:

Mothers were supportive and provided KMC at home following discharge but quality is suboptimal. Interventions focussed on improving KMC at home need to be explored urgently to extract maximum benefit of this proven intervention.