Effect of early intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care on weight gain and length of stay in low-birth-weight infants: A multi-site quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of early intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) in improving neonatal weight gain and length of stay in stable Low-Birthweight (LBW) infants
Design: A multi-site quasi-experimental study. The intervention group was early intermittent KMC while the control group was conventional neonatal care.
Setting: Newborn units in 3 hospitals in Kenya from July 2016 to June 2017.
Participants: Stable LBW infants (N=343 (171 KMC infants and 172 control infants)) born weighing ≤2000 grams and their mothers.
Interventions: KMC infants received early (≤72 hours after birth) intermittent KMC for a cumulative period of 8 hours a day and were placed in incubators when not on KMC. The control infants received standard neonatal care.
Main outcome measures: Neonatal weight gain and length of stay
Results: Intervention infants had a significantly higher mean weight gain during the neonatal period (709.5g vs 471.5g, p<0.0001) than controls. Secondary level maternal education, toilet access, delivery complications and at least 3 meals a day during pregnancy were associated with better neonatal weight gain (p<0.05). Higher birthweight was associated with lower neonatal weight gain (p<0.001). The intervention shortened length of stay (7.1 days vs. 17.4 days, p<0.0001). Higher birthweight was associated with shorter length of stay (p=0.001). A pregnancy history of 1 or more pregnancy loss with 1 or more live births was associated with longer length of stay (p=0.027).
Conclusion: Early intermittent KMC was effective in improving neonatal weight gain and reducing length of stay in stable LBW infants.