Discussion of the clinical application of intermittent Kangaroo mother care in very low birth weight preterm infants

Objective To discuss the safety and effectiveness of applying intermittent kangaroo mother care for very low birth weight preterm infants.Methods Clinical data of very low birth weight preterm infants born from January 2015 to December 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. Subjects were divided into Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) group and control group based on whether accepting kangaroo mother care. Nosocomial infection, antibiotics therapy time, the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), daily weight gain, age of total oral feeding, oxygen therapy time, costs and days of hospitalization were compared between two groups. Mortality and abandon rate after 14 days of delivery were also compared between two groups. Result 65 subjects were enrolled in this study. Among them there were 3 cases of death and 10 cases of being abandoned by parents after 14 days of delivery. There were 25 cases in KMC group and 27 cases in control group finally. There were no statistical differences in nosocomial infection, antibiotics therapy time, the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and daily weight gain between the two groups (P>0.05). There were also no statistical differences in age of total oral feeding, oxygen therapy time, costs and days of hospitalization between the two groups (P>0.05). Although there was no difference in mortality after 14 days of delivery (P>0.05), the abandon rate after 14 days of delivery of control group was significantly higher than KMC group (P<0.05).Conclusion Intermittent kangaroo mother care is safe. It will not increase the incidence of nosocomial infection. It can reduce the abandon rate for hospitalized of very low birth weight preterm infants. Whether the intermittent kangaroo mother care is effective to VLBW preterm infants remains to be verified by further studies.