Factors Impacting Practice of Home Kangaroo Mother Care with Low Birth Weight Infants Following Hospital Discharge.

OBJECTIVE

To identify enablers and barriers related to home Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) adoption after hospital discharge.

STUDY DESIGN

An exploratory study, using a mixed methods evaluation, followed 60 mother-infant dyads from the hospital ward to 4 weeks post-hospital discharge.

RESULTS

Fifty-three of the mothers (88.3%) completed all study visits. The majority of mothers were breastfeeding and practicing skin-to-skin contact 4 weeks post-discharge. Seven mothers (13.2%) discontinued skin-to-skin contact at 4 weeks. KMC was practiced on average 3.3 h/day and 5.1 days/week. The top two enablers reported were significantly related to the amount of time skin-to-skin was practiced, with support for household responsibilities being most significant (U = 195, p = 0.008). Lack of privacy (p = 0.002) and lack of motivation (p = 0.034) were negatively correlated to duration of skin-to-skin contact.

CONCLUSION

Future programs may increase dissemination and adoption of home KMC by specifically addressing enablers and barriers correlated to duration of skin-to-skin contact.