The effect of kangaroo care educational program for mother on weight gain of premature infants in neonatal intensive care units

Background: Kangaroo care is one of the nursing practices with medical provision that can meet the important physical and emotional needs of the preterm such as warmth, stimulation, parental attachment, breast-feeding and safety. This study aimed to: assess the mothers' knowledge and practices about kangaroo mother care on weight gain of premature neonates in neonatal intensive care units. Research design: A quasi-experimental design was utilized in the current study. Setting: This study was conducted at neonatal intensive care unit in Beni Suef University Hospital. Subjects: A purposive sample of 50 mothers accompanying their premature infants. Tools of data collection: Three tools were used: tool (1) interviewing questionnaire: (pre, post and follow-up), tool (2) checklist of reported practices: (pre, post and follow-up), tool (3) knowledge of the mother about kangaroo care technique: (pre, post and follow-up). Results: More than three quarters of the studied mothers had unsatisfied knowledge about Kangaroo Mother Care in the pre educational program implementation while nearly all of them had satisfactory level of knowledge in the post educational program implementation...