Dr Alison Earley, 15th May 2022
Skin to skin care, also known as kangaroo mother care, is one of the key interventions suggested by the World Health Organisation to improve survival of babies. It has so many advantages for new born babies, including preventing hypothermia, promoting breastfeeding, reducing infection and encouraging mother/baby bonding. The feature picture here is from Healthy Newborn Network (https://www.healthynewbornnetwork.org/) to remind us that KMC is an especially important intervention for babies who are born premature.
Although the advantages of skin to skin care have been recognised for many years, and in many countries, it is still not as widely practised as it could be. Including in the UK.
NICHE International emphasises this skill as part of the Neonatal Care Course which we are teaching. It saves lives (see https://www.nicheinternational.org.uk/kangaroo-mother-care-saves-lives/).
