OBJECTIVES: to describe the behavior of newborns weighing under 1500 g on mechanical ventilation, before and after kangaroo mother care (KMC). METHODS: a quasi-experimental type study in which behaviors such as deep sleep, activity, drowsiness, inactive alertness, active alertness, and crying as defined by the Brazelton Neonatal Scale were assessed on three separate occasions: 15 minutes before KMC, 30 after the beginning of KMC and 15 minutes after a total of one hour's KMC. Forty-four preterm newborns (statistical power > 0.9), with a mean gestational age of 29 weeks and mean weight of 1096 g, intubated and stable in terms of hemodynamics were selected by way of continuous entry sampling. RESULTS: the results provided evidence that KMC improves babies' sleep, especially deep sleep (52.3%), compared to the period prior to (6.8%) and after (13.6%) (p<0.001) KMC. Apart from this, the newborns showed signs of pain after KMC, with a significant difference (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: kangaroo mother care, under the conditions studied, may be considered a beneficial strategy for neuro-behavioral development.
Premature; Child development; Kangaroo mother method
