Assessment of the Knowledge and Practices of Mothers Performing Kangaroo Mother Care for Neonates

Abstract

The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the knowledge and practices of mothers performing kangaroo mother care (KMC) for low birth weight babies at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Neonatal Nursery (NNN) and maternity ward of Nehru Hospital, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. Using purposive sampling technique, 50 mothers were included in the study. After obtaining the informed consent, a questionnaire was administered to the mothers. The information gathered was regarding the identification data of mother and the baby and the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding KMC. The findings of the study revealed that on an average 34% of the mothers had full knowledge regarding the various aspects of KMC like purposes of KMC, duration of KMC, mother’s and baby’s dress during KMC, position of head of the baby during KMC and person who can practice it. Regarding the practices of mothers performing KMC, only 8.8% of the mothers were practicing correctly in terms of the above said parameters. There was a statistically significant difference between knowledge and practice in terms of duration of KMC, baby’s dress during KMC, the person who can practice KMC and the mother’s dress in KMC (ᵡ2 = 3.72, 25, 7.18 and 15, df = 1, p < 0.01) respectively. It was concluded that the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding KMC was deficient in almost all the aspects which should be taken into consideration at the time of performing KMC.