What is kangaroo care? How is it used to foster development in preterm newborns?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: 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. Because of its many physical and psychological benefits, the technique is often used in Western nations as a supplement to hospital intensive care.
Kangaroo skin-to-skin contact fosters improved oxygenation of the baby’s body, temperature regulation, sleep, breastfeeding, alertness, and infant survival. In addition, the kangaroo position provides the baby with gentle stimulation of all sensory modalities: hearing (through the parent’s voice), smell (through proximity to the parent’s body), touch (through skin-to-skin contact), and vision (through the upright position). Mothers and fathers practicing kangaroo care feel more confident about caring for their fragile babies, interact more sensitively and affectionately, and feel more attached to them.
Together, 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, are more likely to explore novel toys and score higher in mental and motor development during the first year. In an 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.
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