Maternal and neonatal nurse perceived value of kangaroo mother care and maternal care partnership in the neonatal intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) enhances infant and maternal well-being and requires maternal-care partnerships (MCP) for implementation.

OBJECTIVE

To examine maternal and neonatal nurse provider perspectives on the value of KMC and MCP.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective cohort design of neonatal nurses and mothers of preterm infants self-report anonymous questionnaire. Analyses of categorical independent variables and continuous variables were calculated.

RESULTS

In all, 82.3% of nurses (42) and 100% (143) of mothers participated in the survey. compared with 18% of nurses, 63% of mothers believed "KMC should be provided daily" and 90% of mothers compared with 40% of nurses strongly believed "mothers should be partners in care." In addition, 61% of nonwhite mothers identified that "KMC was not something they were told they could do for their infant" compared with 39% of white mothers. Nonwhite and foreign-born nurses were 2.8 and 3.1 times more likely to encourage MCP and KMC.

CONCLUSION

Mothers held strong positive perceptions of KMC and MCP value compared with nurses. Nonwhite mothers perceived they received less education and access to KMC. Barriers to KMC and MCP exist among nurses, though less in nonwhite, foreign-born, and/or nurses with their own children, identifying important provider educational opportunities to improve maternal KMC access in the NICU.