, according to new research published online in BMJ Global Health.
Starting the contact, which involves mothers carrying the newborn in a sling, within 24 hours of birth and continuing it for at least 8 hours a day both appear to amplify the effect on reducing mortality and infection, the paper states.
Sindhu Sivanandan, MD, with the department of neonatology at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India, and Mari Jeeva Sankar, MD, in the pediatrics department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, looked at existing studies to compare KMC with conventional care and to compare starting the intervention within 24 hours of birth versus a later start.
Dr. Sindhu Sivanandan
Their review looked at 31 trials that included 15,559 low-birthweight and preterm infants collectively. Of the 31 trials, 27 studies compared KMC with conventional care and four compared early with late initiation of KMC.
Dr. Mari Jeeva Sanka
Mortality risk reduction
Analysis showed that, compared with conventional care, KMC appeared to cut mortality risk by 32% (relative risk, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.53-0.86) during birth hospitalization or by 28 days after birth, while it seemed to reduce the risk of severe infection, such as sepsis, by 15% (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76-0.96; low-certainty evidence.)
That mortality-risk reduction was found regardless of gestational age or weight of the child at enrolment, time of starting KMC, and whether the intervention was started in a hospital or community.
The studies that had compared early with late-initiated KMC showed a reduction in neonatal mortality of 33%.
Low- and middle-income countries have the highest rates of premature births (gestational age of less than 37 weeks) and low birthweight (less than 2,500 grams). Premature births and low birthweight both are key causes of death and disability.
The World Health Organization recommends KMC as the standard of care among low birthweight infants after clinical stabilization. The American Academy of Pediatrics also promotes immediate KMC.
Relevance in the U.S.
Grace Chan, MD, MPH, PhD, an epidemiologist and pediatrician with the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, said though the practice is promoted by the WHO and AAP, recommendations to families vary widely by providers.
She said the health benefits for KMC are numerous. One of the biggest is that skin-to-skin contact can help transfer heat to newborns who may have trouble regulating their own temperature. That is especially important in cold climates in places where there may be insufficient indoor heat.
She said it’s well-known that preterm babies are at higher risk for apnea, and listening to a mother’s heartbeat may stimulate the child to breathe regularly.
Additionally with KMC, there’s an inherent benefit of a mother or caregiver being able to see any change in a newborn’s color immediately when the baby is held so closely, as opposed to a nurse watching several babies at a time in a neonatal intensive care unit.
This is evidence that starting KMC right away is important, because the risk of death for premature and low-weight newborns is highest in the first 24 hours of life, Dr. Chan noted.