Kangaroo care is when a mother nurses her baby (or babies!) against her chest, providing continuous skin-to-skin contact. This method has been proven to improve the outcomes of neonates, especially those born too early, of low birth weight or who are sick.
The WHO recommend Kangaroo care for the routine care of newborns weighing 2000g or less at birth, and that it should be initiated in healthcare facilities as soon as a newborn is clinically stable.
On the maternity wards we encourage skin to skin contact, which is known to promote bonding between mum and baby; help establish breast feeding; regulate the baby’s temperature, heart rate and breathing; and achieve more rapid weight gain. All these help to result in better outcomes for babies and in earlier discharge from hospital.
Thanks to the knitted supplies we receive and the mothers’ fabrics they bring into the delivery room with them, staff are able to teach the mothers effective kangaroo care.