Kangaroo Mother Care, a continuous skin to skin contact between the mother and preterm baby to help keep the baby warm and encourage weight gain in preterm babies
Kangaroo mother care is also known as skin-to-skin care. According to Wikipedia, “this technique is used for low birth weight preterm babies who are likely to suffer from hypothermia.” The technique is used to keep the baby warm while at a neo-natal unit.
The medical technique was named after the Kangaroo in reference to how they carry their young ones. It was adopted as a solution in countries where incubators were unreliable or non-existent.
The child/children are placed on the bare chest of their mother or father to improve rates of breast-feeding.
Gene Cranston Anderson of the United States is credited for coining the term Kangaroo Care. Starting from 1985, this practice was widely used in Colombia to decongest hospitals. Mothers who gave birth to children weighing 1kg and below were supplied with oxygen cylinders and discharged to use the skin-to-skin care at home on condition that the babies were able to breastfeed.
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