A consultant neonatologist with the National Hospital  Dr Mariya Mukhtar-Yola,, Abuja, has urged mothers to adopt ‘Kangaroo’ mother care for premature babies to augment the shortage of incubators in public health institutions across the country.

Premature babies are babies born very early, very small and their bodies have not matured adequately to be able to give them the needed warmth and protection to survive.

Kangaroos are animals mostly predominant in Australia but interestingly the name is applied for a method, whereby a mother puts the baby on her front to enable a skin- to- skin contact with the baby.

Mukhtar-Yola told newsmen  in Abuja recently that the method was necessary in view of the shortage of incubators in public health institutions across the country.

She said that the method would reduce the constraints in intensive care units for premature babies.

Mukhtar-Yola said the ‘Kangaroo’ mother care method could also help to reduce death among premature babies, stressing that it also increases babies’ breastfeeding tendency and reduce infections.

“So, one of the ways we can help those babies who are outside the hospitals or even in the hospitals, who  are not sick, but are just waiting to grow, is using the kangaroo mother care approach.

“And the way we improvised, we ask the mother to carry her baby, the baby should not be dressed, he can only wear his pampers ideally.

“The mother will carry the baby in front of her so that his head will lie on her chest, just above the breast so that the head will get the maximum warmth in that area, and then she will use the wrapper to cover the baby.

“Which is actually just like the opposite of what we are used to in Africa, in Africa we back our babies from behind but in the kangaroo mother care system we carry the baby in front, there are many advantages of carrying the babies in front apart from just for the provision of warmth, even though that is the primary reason.’’

“ If those babies are bigger, more than one kilogram and are stable, and don’t have any medical illness, they can  feed  and be maintained on the kangaroo mother care.

“Those incubators will be free now for babies that are unwell to be able to be admitted.’’ She said.

According to the neonatologist, a mother is not supposed to wear a blouse but if she wants she can just wear a top without bottoning it up so that the baby will have a skin-to-skin contact.

Mukhtar-Yola said that the kangaroo mother care must not be restricted to the mother alone as any other person could do it, including the father.

She said that incidence of premature deliveries is  high in Nigeria, stressing that mothers should adhere to the Kangaroo method so as to prevent the most common cause of death among premature babies.

Mukhtar-Yola said that the Kangaroo method would make it easier for the mothers to do other domestic activities while taking care of their babies, stressing that it increases natural bond between the mother and the baby.

She said that mothers practising the kangaroo method would also be able to observe their babies more closely, monitor their breathing and detect if their babies were under any form of distress.

According to her, the key benefit for the method is that it does not require equipment, it requires only attitudinal change.