Biomaterial Database

Kangaroo care for well low birth weight infants at Harare Central Hospital Maternity Unit--Zimbabwe. 1999

R A Kambarami, and O Chidede, and D T Kowo

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Zimbabwe Medical School, Harare, Zimbabwe.

OBJECTIVE To describe the experience in a newly established Kangaroo Care Unit (KCU) at a tertiary level hospital and to identify factors associated with poor outcome in this unit. METHODS Cross sectional study. METHODS Kangaroo Care Unit at Harare Central Hospital, Zimbabwe. METHODS Mothers admitted to the KCU and their well preterm infants. METHODS Discharge home or referral back to the Neonatal Unit (NNU) for conventional care. RESULTS 613 mother infant pairs were studied from May 1994 to December 1996. The median age for all mothers was 23 years (Q1 = 15, Q3 = 26). Fifty four percent of the infants were female. Median age at admission to KCU was 12 days (Q1 = 1, Q3 = 25). Seventy two percent of infants were discharged home from the KCU. The rest (28%) were referred back to NNU for conventional care. The odds of being referred back to the NNU were significantly higher if the infant was male OR = 1.82 (95% CI: 1.25 to 2.66); if the birth weight was < 1 500 gms OR = 1.52 (95% CI: 1.04 to 2.22); if the admission weight to the KCU was < 1500 grams OR = 2.16 (95% CI: 1.42 to 3.29) or if the age on admission to KCU was 14 days or more OR = 2.15 (95% CI: 1.44 to 3.29). These factors remained significant after adjusting for confounding. Mother's age, parity, booking status or whether admission was during the cold months or not had no significant bearing on the outcome in this unit. Reasons for referral back to NNU included apnoea (27%); respiratory distress (27%); aspiration pneumonia (18%); neonatal jaundice (8%); poor feeding (7%); ill mother (5%); sepsis (4%) and diarrhoea (3%). On multivariate analysis birth weight was the strongest predictor for being referred back to the NNU OR = 10.753 (95% CI: 6.026-19.186). CONCLUSIONS Establishment of a KCU at a tertiary level hospital is feasible. Kangaroo care for well preterm infants is suitable for most mothers and their preterm infants. Infants were more likely to be referred back for conventional care if they were male, very low birth weight and if the age at admission was greater than two weeks. Further studies are needed to determine the long term survival of these infants.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007224	Infant Care	Care of infants in the home or institution.
D007230	Infant, Low Birth Weight	An infant having a birth weight of 2500 gm. (5.5 lb.) or less but INFANT, VERY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT is available for infants having a birth weight of 1500 grams (3.3 lb.) or less.	Low Birth Weight,Low-Birth-Weight Infant,Birth Weight, Low,Birth Weights, Low,Infant, Low-Birth-Weight,Infants, Low-Birth-Weight,Low Birth Weight Infant,Low Birth Weights,Low-Birth-Weight Infants
D007231	Infant, Newborn	An infant during the first 28 days after birth.	Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D007234	Infant, Premature	A human infant born before 37 weeks of GESTATION.	Neonatal Prematurity,Premature Infants,Preterm Infants,Infant, Preterm,Infants, Premature,Infants, Preterm,Premature Infant,Prematurity, Neonatal,Preterm Infant
D008297	Male		Males
D009034	Mother-Child Relations	Interaction between a mother and child.	Mother-Child Interaction,Mother-Child Relationship,Mother-Infant Interaction,Mother-Infant Relations,Interaction, Mother-Child,Interaction, Mother-Infant,Interactions, Mother-Child,Interactions, Mother-Infant,Mother Child Interaction,Mother Child Relations,Mother Child Relationship,Mother Infant Interaction,Mother Infant Relations,Mother-Child Interactions,Mother-Child Relation,Mother-Child Relationships,Mother-Infant Interactions,Mother-Infant Relation,Relation, Mother-Child,Relation, Mother-Infant,Relations, Mother-Child,Relations, Mother-Infant,Relationship, Mother-Child,Relationships, Mother-Child
D003430	Cross-Sectional Studies	Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.	Disease Frequency Surveys,Prevalence Studies,Analysis, Cross-Sectional,Cross Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Survey,Surveys, Disease Frequency,Analyses, Cross Sectional,Analyses, Cross-Sectional,Analysis, Cross Sectional,Cross Sectional Analyses,Cross Sectional Studies,Cross Sectional Survey,Cross-Sectional Analyses,Cross-Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Study,Cross-Sectional Surveys,Disease Frequency Survey,Prevalence Study,Studies, Cross-Sectional,Studies, Prevalence,Study, Cross-Sectional,Study, Prevalence,Survey, Cross-Sectional,Survey, Disease Frequency,Surveys, Cross-Sectional
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults