Now, doctors are taking inspiration from marsupials on how physical contact between mothers and infants can be effectively used to save the lives of low birth weight babies.
Three years ago, a Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) ward for an alternative neonatal care approach was started by the Neonatology division of the pediatrics department, SSG Hospital. The KMC ward's main aim was to manage low birth weight babies through continuous early, prolonged and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact. A recent study conducted by the Neonatology division at SSG Hospital found that the method is has been more successful than conventional method in cutting down mortality rates among such infants by at least 90 per cent.
Low birth weight babies constitute 30-40 per cent of neonates born in India and account for two-thirds of the neonatal mortality. "Conventional care of low birth weight babies is expensive. KMC is an alternative and inexpensive as well as a baby-and-mother-friendly method of care for LBW infants. It is particularly useful in caring for low birth weight infants below 2 kg," said Dr Dulari Gandhi of the Head of Department (HoD), pediatrics department, Baroda Medical College (BMC).
To ascertain the effectiveness of this method to combat the infant mortality rate in low birth weight babies, the department of pediatrics conducted an eight-month long study starting in July-2006. The aims of the study was to ascertain the effect of the Kangaroo Mother Care method in the low birth weight group-infants less than 2kg and very low birth weight infants-less than 1.5 kg. The study was based on comparisons between conventional methods for such neonates and those who were given Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC). "As expected, it was found that KMC was a more efficient method in combating infant mortality rate amongst low birth weight infants during the first month after their birth," said Dr Gandhi.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
Three years ago, a Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) ward for an alternative neonatal care approach was started by the Neonatology division of the pediatrics department, SSG Hospital. The KMC ward's main aim was to manage low birth weight babies through continuous early, prolonged and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact. A recent study conducted by the Neonatology division at SSG Hospital found that the method is has been more successful than conventional method in cutting down mortality rates among such infants by at least 90 per cent.
Low birth weight babies constitute 30-40 per cent of neonates born in India and account for two-thirds of the neonatal mortality. "Conventional care of low birth weight babies is expensive. KMC is an alternative and inexpensive as well as a baby-and-mother-friendly method of care for LBW infants. It is particularly useful in caring for low birth weight infants below 2 kg," said Dr Dulari Gandhi of the Head of Department (HoD), pediatrics department, Baroda Medical College (BMC).
To ascertain the effectiveness of this method to combat the infant mortality rate in low birth weight babies, the department of pediatrics conducted an eight-month long study starting in July-2006. The aims of the study was to ascertain the effect of the Kangaroo Mother Care method in the low birth weight group-infants less than 2kg and very low birth weight infants-less than 1.5 kg. The study was based on comparisons between conventional methods for such neonates and those who were given Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC). "As expected, it was found that KMC was a more efficient method in combating infant mortality rate amongst low birth weight infants during the first month after their birth," said Dr Gandhi.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com