Kangaroo Care and Reduced Risk for Preterm Neonates Essay

Kangaroo Care and Reduced Risk for Preterm Neonates - Essay Example Kangaroo Care and Reduced Risk for Preterm Neonates The articles were similar in that both used samples of pretern infants and neither one directly targeted neonatal mortality of preterm infants. But, indirectly, they did. The first study was interested in how Kangaroo Care furthered breastfeeding after discharge from the hospital. This is because breastfeeding significantly reduces risk of illness and infant mortality. It follows logically then, that if Kangaroo Care can encourage longer breastfeeding, then it is a tool in reducing risk for illness and mortality in the preterm baby. The Norwegian study was interested in boosting the efficacy of Kangaroo care, by using another promising treatment, music therapy. The research assumptions are different in that the first one considered breastfeeding as a key to the reduced risk of preterm infants illness and mortality, while the Norwegian study hypothesized that the supplementation of Kangaroo Care would probably be important, and they collected physiological data which confirmed this. The findings for the first study were most significant for the very preterm infants, the most vulnerable of the babies. Those mothers who were still breastfeeeding 5 or 6 months after discharge from the hospital were those who had spent the most time doing Kangaroo Care with their baby, in the hospital. Kangaroo Care cayses breastfeeding to happen for a longer time over-all. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of infant mortality and contributes to good health, so these are pretty exciting findings, especially because the findings were strongest for the infants at most risk. That Kangaroo Care encourages continued breastfeeding is a finding confirmed by Gouchon et al. (Gouchon, Gregori, Picotto, Patrucco, Nangeroini, & Di Giulio, 2010) in their study with cesarean neonates. Gregson and Blackson (Gregson & Blackson, 2011) also conducted a research study which confirmed this finding on Kangaroo Care and improved breastfeeding rates and duration. The findings for the Norwegian study included decreased pulse rate, slowed respiration, increased transcutaneous oxygen saturation, and more stable blood pressure for those neonates who received the dual