Description
Kangaroo care seeks to provide restored closeness of the newborn with mother or father by placing the infant in direct skin-to-skin contact with one of them. This ensures physiological and psychological warmth and bonding. The kangaroo position provides ready access to nourishment. The parent's stable body temperature helps to regulate the neonate's temperature more smoothly than an incubator, and allows for readily accessible breastfeeding.
While this model of infant care is substantially different from the typical Western NICU procedures described here, the two are not mutually exclusive, and it is estimated that more than 200 neonatal intensive care units practice kangaroo care today. One recent survey found that 82 percent of neonatal intensive care units use kangaroo care in the United States today.
Read more about this topic: Kangaroo Care
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