Evidence Summary of Best Practices for Kangaroo Mother Care in Preterm Infants.

Abstract

Background: Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is an effective intervention to reduce preterm infant mortality and complications. Updated review of current evidence supports revision of current neonatal guidelines.

Purpose: To systematically retrieve, appraise, and synthesize the best current evidence on safe and effective KMC practices for preterm infants.

Data sources: Comprehensive search (inception to December 2024) using the "6S" model across UpToDate, JBI, BMJ Best Practice, Cochrane Library, NICE, NGC, GIN, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, CBM, Wanfang, CNKI, and Baidu Scholar.

Study selection: Included guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, evidence summaries, expert consensuses, and clinical decision support articles focused on KMC for preterm infants/families/nurses (PIPOST model). Excluded non-Chinese/English, duplicates, and incomplete texts. Nine (9) documents were finally included from 56 full-texts screened (3 guidelines, 3 systematic reviews, 2 clinical decision supports, 1 evidence summary).

Data extraction: The 6-member research team comprised 4 researchers who independently conducted quality assessments of guideline documents, while 2 researchers independently evaluated systematic reviews and evidence summaries.

Results: Quality appraisal revealed high-quality evidence overall. Twenty-four (24) best practice recommendations were synthesized into 6 domains: (1) Support System, (2) Staff Training, (3) Recipient Assessment, (4) Timing of Intervention, (5) Implementation Key Points, and (6) Outcome Evaluation.

Implications for practice and research: Provides an updated, evidence-based reference for clinical KMC implementation. Clinicians should adapt recommendations to local contexts. Future research should focus on high-quality primary studies and addressing evidence-practice gaps.