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Long-Term Benefits of Kangaroo Mother Care

Pediatrics; ePub 2017 Jan 2; Charpak, et al

Publish date:

Significant, long-lasting social and behavioral protective effects over 20 years were observed with kangaroo mother care (KMC) compared to traditional care in adolescence and young adulthood, a recent study found. The study evaluated the persistence of benefits of KMC, a multifaceted intervention for preterm and low birth weight infants and their parents. From 2012 to 2014, a total of 494 (69%) of the 716 participants of the original randomized controlled trial (RCT) from 1993 to 1996 known to be alive were identified, and 441 were re-enrolled. Results for the 264 participants weighing ≤1800 g at birth were then analyzed. Researchers found:

  • The effects of KMC at 1 year on IQ and home environment were still present 20 years later in the most fragile individuals.
  • Parents were more protective and nurturing, reflected by reduced school absenteeism and reduced hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and socio-deviant conduct of young adults in the study.
  • In the KMC group, neuroimaging showed larger volume of the left caudate nucleus.

Citation:

Charpak N, Tessier R, Ruiz JG, et al. Twenty-year follow-up of kangaroo mother care vs traditional care. [Published online ahead of print January 2, 2017]. Pediatrics. doi:10.1542/peds.2016-2063.

Commentary:

Kangaroo mother care was developed in the 1970’s as an alternative to care in which mothers were separated from their preterm infants and the infants were cared for in incubators with little parental involvement. Kangaroo mother care involves a good deal of skin-to-skin contact between baby and mother, frequent breast feeding, and discharge as early as possible.1 This approach, having as much parent involvement as possible, has become standard over the subsequent years. A 2016 Cochrane review showed that parental involvement leads to a lower risk of death and severe infection, as well as higher rates of breastfeeding.2 This current study showed the remarkable sustained social and behavioral effects of close parental involvement 20 years later, with such involvement leading to reduced school absenteeism and reduced hyperactivity, aggressiveness, externalization, and socio-deviant conduct of young adults. —Neil Skolnik, MD

  1. Furman L. Kangaroo mother care 20 years later: Connecting infants and families. Pediatrics. 2017;139(1):e20163332. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD002771.
  2. Conde-Agudelo A, Díaz-Rossello JL. Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;8(8):CD002771.

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