'Kangaroo' care (or skin to skin contact - 'SSC') is a form of care used for very, small premature babies. It involves holding your baby on your chest, with their naked (or partially clothed) body against your bare skin. They are usually tucked inside their parent's shirt and more so with the mother for easy access to breastfeeding. Babies can be held this way even when they are very small and premature, providing their breathing is not a problem and they are medically stable. The warmth, closeness, peace and security of hearing their parent's heartbeat can bring back the familiarity of being inside the uterus.
'Kangaroo mother care' (or 'KMC') was first proposed in 1978 by researchers in Columbia. They believed that caring for very small babies in a marsupial-like way, where the mother keeps her baby warm, near her breasts for frequent feeding, comfort and stimulation, could contribute to their safe recovery. It was also linked to babies going home sooner from the hospital. This was especially important in a country where resources were limited and the conventional, contemporary intensive care facilities for newborns were restricted.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF endorsed Kangaroo care in 1994, especially in developing countries, because of the benefits it could provide to very low birth weight babies (less than 2,500 grams- about 5lb 8oz).
Today kangaroo care is incorporated into modern intensive care nurseries in various ways. Some have the baby fully naked and fully breastfeeding. Others will partially dress the baby and integrate breastfeeding with some
nasogastric tube feeds. Some will encourage kangaroo care nearly 24 hours a day and advocate even very small babies going home earlier, others will use it for short periods (an hour or so every day or a few times a day) encouraging the baby to stay until they have put on adequate weight.