Longer Skin-to-Skin Contact of Mothers and Premature Babies Increase Their Survival Rates

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A new review published in the journal "Pediatrics" shows how skin-to-skin contact (or what is called "kangaroo care") between premature infants and their mothers helps lower the risk for sepsis, a serious bloodstream infection, and help increase the child's chances of survival, HealthDay reports.

"Kangaroo care", which is the process in which mothers hold their babies against the chest, skin-to-skin, with a blanket over the child, was first introduced in the 1970s by a doctor in Colombia who encouraged that parents practice this as an alternative to incubators, which were at the time not readily available in parts of the world.

Reuters reports that for the review, researchers from Harvard University in Boston analyzed 124 previously published studies in which kangaroo care was linked with a 36% lower mortality among low birth weight newborns compared to conventional care. Researchers found that babies who undergone "kangaroo care" were also 50% less likely to develop sepsis, 78% lower risk of hypothermia, and 88% lower risk of dangerously low blood sugar. The researchers noted, however, that the these studies came from all over the world, and therefore "standard" medical care was varied.

Senior study author Grace Chan said, however, that "kangaroo care", when combined with advanced medical care, can positively impact a premature infant's survival. She said, "The mechanisms through which kangaroo care is believed to work—for example, through stabilization of temperature and other vital signs, and increased breast-feeding—are likely to be the same across settings. And that could lead to improvements in outcomes for infants in U.S. neonatal intensive care units, as well."

Lead author Dr. Ellen Boundy told Reuters, "Despite the evidence of numerous benefits to infants who receive kangaroo mother care, its overall use around the world remains low, and uptake varies greatly across setting and providers."

"Hopefully our study will provide a clear picture of the evidence on kangaroo mother care to help clinicians, families and policy-makers understand the benefits implementing this practice can have on newborn health," Dr. Boundy and Dr. Chan said in an email.

According to FOX News, researchers noted that about 4 million infants lose their lives during their first four weeks of life, and that infants who are born prematurely or have low birth weight have a higher risk for death, serious illness, developmental delays, and chronic disease.

Additionally, researchers found that among mothers who practiced "kangaroo care", 50% were more likely to exclusively breastfeed their children, and by one to four months, "kangaroo care" was linked to 39% higher chances of exclusive breastfeeding.

In the United States alone, the premature birth rate was 9.6% in 2014, the CDC reports. In fact, African American babies were about 50% more likely to be born prematurely than their white, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander counterparts.