Describe "kangaroo care," and explain how it is used to promote development in preterm newborns.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

"Kangaroo care" involves placing the infant in a vertical position between the mother's breasts or next to the father's chest (under the parent's clothing) so the parent's body functions as a human incubator. In developing countries where hospitalization is not always possible, skin-to-skin kangaroo care is the most readily available intervention for promoting the recovery of preterm babies.
Kangaroo skin-to-skin contact fosters improved oxygenation of the baby's body, temperature regulation, sleep, breastfeeding, alertness, and infant survival. Mothers and fathers practicing it feel more confident about caring for their fragile babies, interact more sensitively and affectionately, and feel more attached to them. In addition, the kangaroo position provides the baby with gentle stimulation of all sensory modalities. Mothers and fathers practicing it feel more condifent about caring for their fragile babies, interact more sensitively and affectionately, and feel for attached to them.
These factors may explain why preterm babies given many hours of kangaroo care in their early weeks, compared with those given little or no such care, develop more favorably during the first year and beyond. In one investigation that followed children born preterm until age 10, those who had experienced kangaroo care, compared with matched controls, displayed a more adaptive cortisol stress response, better organized sleep, more favorable mother-child interaction, and enhanced cognitive development. Because of its diverse benefits, most U.S. hospital nurseries now offer kangaroo care to parents and preterm newborns.