“KANGAROO MOTHER CARE”: AN IMPORTABLE TECHNOLOGY?

Key words: Low birth weight infant, Kangaroo mother care, Newborn care

Effective care of low birth weight infants could reduce the global burden of neonatal mortality. Kangaroo mother care is a low cost and simple technology, developed in poor countries as an alternative to expensive and sophisticated care, that has this potential. In rich countries, kangaroo mother care could provide additional benefits to mothers and low birth weight infants, and at the same time contribute to a more human approach to neonatal care. It could also help reducing the cost of care through a more efficient use of staff, time and equipment. The paper reviews the current knowledge on kangaroo mother care and talks in detail about the advantages that it could bring about in neonatal units of industrialized countries. It discusses as well the problems and obstacles that the implementation of kangaroo mother care would have to address.