Kangaroo care gets a major endorsement. Here's what it looks like in Ivory Coast
Kangaroo care received a ringing endorsement in a study published in the British Medical Journal this week.
It's the latest affirmation of skin-to-skin care for small and preterm babies to reduce the risk of infection and mortality.
Reviewing 31 trials that involved over 15,000 infants, the new study noted a reduction in childhood mortality by approximately a third among those who experienced kangaroo care starting within 24 hours of birth.
The World Health Organization offered a similar perspective last November, advising "immediate skin to skin care for survival of small and preterm babies."
In other words: When a baby is born prematurely, a good way to help the baby survive and thrive is simply to hold it close to a parent's naked chest.
The name conjures up the way that kangaroo moms hold their offspring in their pouch.
The technique is especially valuable in low-resource areas of the world that may be short on medical technology, including incubators. Kangaroo care, in effect, turns parents into pseudo-incubators. No technology needed!
In 1978, physician researchers Edgar Rey Sanabria and Héctor Martínez-Gómez introduced the technique at the maternity ward of the San Juan de
