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Objectives To evaluate whether kangaroo mother care (KMC) in preterm infants on non-invasive respiratory support improves indices of cardiorespiratory wellbeing. Study design Prospective quasi-experimental observational study. Setting Tertiary perinatal neonatal unit. Patients 50 very preterm infants being managed with nasal continuous positive airway pressure. Interventions Continuous high-resolution preductal pulse-oximetry recordings using Masimo Radical-7 oximeter for 1 hour (incubator care) followed by 1 hour during KMC performed on the same day. Main outcome measures Measures of cardiorespiratory stability (dips in oxygen saturations (SpO 2 )) of ≥5% less than baseline, % time spent with oxygen saturations 8 bpm) were lower with KMC (43±22 vs 33±20, p=0.03). Seven (14%) infants had bradycardias during incubator care and none during KMC, p=0.012. Conclusions KMC improves cardiorespiratory stability in ventilated preterm infants. Regular KMC has the potential to improve clinical outcomes in this vulnerable cohort.
Sehgal et al. (Wed,) studied this question.