Kangaroo mother care:: bibliographical review on the current attitudes, their interests and their limits

Initiated in 1978 by a Colombian team, then largely adapted in industrialized countries as well as in poor developed countries, the kangaroo mother care (KMC) are known to ensure for low birth weight newborn, a thermoregulation, a good physiological stability and a better relational comfort with their parents. The goal of this work is to make a bibliographical review on current concepts, interests and limits of this method. We re-examined impact of the KMC on the basal metabolism, thermoregulation, growth and evolution of these children. They are helpful in the developing countries but medical safety should not be forgotten. In these countries where there's high frequentation of the services, they are able to regulate body temperature and metabolic adaptation of the newborn. In developed countries, KMC contribute to decrease anxiety of parents and improve the relations with their child. However, it is difficult to recommend their use in current practice. Rigorous randomised studies are necessary to argue their establishment in full safety, to know the neuropsychological development and the real somatic growth on the long term of the children and to known their true economic cost. (C) 2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.