Trial gain of weight and hospital length stay of the low birth weight preterm infant in assistance for kangaroo mother care

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate if the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) interferes in the gain of weight and in the hospital length stay of the low birth weight preterm newborn (LWBPTN). For this, it was realized an analytic retrospective study, through the evaluation of the medical records of 60 LWBPTN with born weight less than 2000 g that received assistance by KMC, for a period of 2 hours per day and, 60 LWBPTN that received assistance by the Traditional Method of Care (TMC), admitted in the unity of neonatal intensive care and unity of premature of a private maternity in the city of Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil, comparing the gain of weight and the hospital length stay. We did not find differences statistically significant in relation to the gain of weight of the LWBPTN assisted by KMC, in relation to LWBPTN assisted by the TMC, 15,8 and 14,9 g/per day, respectively. In relation to the time of admission, we also did not find differences statistically significant, 27,3 and 26,2 days, for the LWBPTN in the KMC and TMC, respectively, although in the stratification of the sample, the LBWPTN with pregnancy age < 30 weeks or birth weight < 1500 g left the hospital 3 days earlier in the KMC. It was concluded that the KMC, in the conditions of this study, it seems not to interfere significatively in the gain of weight and in the time of admission of LWBPTN. We emphasize that the utilization of KMC in the assistance to the LWBPTN of low weight is a viable model, even for the private health institution.