Abstract

As premature birth and low birth weight are the main cause of neonatal mortality, kangaroo mother care is now suggested to care premature infants. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of kangaroo mother care on physiological response of preterm infants. A quasi experiment designwith one group pre and post test design was conducted in two hospitals in Jakarta. Sixteen preterm infants matching the inclusive criteria were selected as sample. The study found significant effect of kangaroo mother care intervention on physiological response of preterm infants, i.e. increasing body temperature to normal (p value = 0,000), increasing heartrate to normal (p value = 0,003), and increasing oxygen saturation (p value = 0,023). Therefore, the kangaroo mother care is therefore an effective, simple, and cheap method to care the preterm infants.