Kangaroo Mother Care A Complete Guide for Mothers and Families 14 INTRODUCTION Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is an innovative approach to promote the health and well-being of premature infants. It has gained recognition for its remarkable benefits. KMC is the best method of caring for a baby born too small or one that has come too soon. KMC is the simple act of continuous skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn baby where the baby is kept between the mother’s breasts for a continual and prolonged period and fed only the mother’s breast milk. A ‘preterm’ baby is a baby born too soon, delivered before 37 weeks of pregnancy; and a low birth weight (LBW) baby is a baby born too small, with weight less than 2.5 kg.The best place for a baby to grow well is the mother’s womb, and for a baby born too early or too small, the next best place to recover is on the mother’s chest, between her breasts.This is called Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC). KMC is the most important highimpact intervention for a preterm and LBW baby. KMC is recognized worldwide, not only for better survival outcomes of the baby but also for better neurodevelopmental outcomes. It has numerous benefits not only for the baby but also for the mother. LBW baby in KMC in NICU Kangaroo Mother Care is a comprehensive package of care for the preterm and/or LBW baby that includes early and continuous skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding support, and early discharge from the hospital.
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