Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
Background: Preterm birth is a significant health issue of global concern, and it generates considerable neonatal morbidity and mortality. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), a low-cost intervention that entails skin-to-skin contact and breast feeding has proven to have positive effects in enhancing neonatal outcomes. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence comparing continuous and intermittent KMC. Purpose: To compare intermittent and continuous Kangaroo Mother Care on preterm babies based on weight gain and hospital stay.
Methodology: It was a randomized controlled trial based at the Department of Neonatology, The Children Hospital, Lahore, and done from February 2025 to June 2025. One hundred and ten preterm infants were selected and assigned to two groups: continuous KMC (20 hours/day or more) and intermittent KMC (6 hours/day or more but less than 20 hours/day). The data on weight gain per day and the length of hospital stay was measured and compared by the application of SPSS version 26. The independent t-test involving samples and chi-square were used with p = 0.05 being taken as statistically significant.
Results: The continuous KMC group showed relatively better weight gain and shorter stay than the intermittent KMC group. The difference between groups was, however, not significant (p>0.05). Stratification by gender did not show any significant effect modification.
Conclusion: Continuous KMC presented a tendency in favor of better clinical results, but no significant differences were revealed. Multicenter studies are advised to be conducted on a larger scale to come up with conclusive clinical guidelines.