How it began
Physician researchers Edgar Rey Sanabria and Héctor Martínez-Gómez developed the Kangaroo Mother Program in Bogotá, Colombia, as an alternative to conventional incubator treatment for low birth weight infants. The Embryo Project Encyclopedia dates the program to 1979, and other accounts place its start in 1978. Rey Sanabria, a neonatologist, modeled the method on the way marsupials carry their young.
Before it existed
The standard treatment for premature and low birth weight babies was the incubator, which depends on equipment and skilled staff. Where access to technology and trained healthcare providers was limited, many of these infants died. The World Health Organization has reported that complications of low birth weight account for 60 to 80 percent of newborn deaths, mostly in developing countries.
How it works
The baby is held in continuous skin-to-skin contact against the mother's chest, which keeps the infant warm in place of an incubator. The baby is fed only breast milk. Mother and baby are discharged from the hospital early. The method helps regulate the infant's temperature, supports growth and strengthens the bond between mother and child.
How it spread
Although the method was designed for hospitals with limited resources, researchers showed that it could be as effective as conventional treatment. It gained international acceptance, and the World Health Organization published global guidelines on kangaroo mother care in 2003.
What lasted
Kangaroo mother care changed the standard of care for low birth weight infants and made life-saving treatment available to babies in places without advanced medical technology. It is simple and low in cost. It continues to be studied and applied to a wider range of infant complications, and it is credited with building mothers' confidence in caring for small babies.
