What is it about?

Allantoin is a marker of oxidative stress in the ATP degradation biochemical pathway. This study links the biochemical measures to the physiologic benefits listed in previous studies of skin-to-skin contact (SSC). We provide preliminary evidence that at the cellular level (SSC) through Kangaroo mother care (KMC) intervention it may reduce neonatal oxidative stress processes which shows a lowering of inflammatory tone over time for the preterm infant.

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Why is it important?

Our findings support the practice of early Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) intervention in the NICU with the ultimate goal of reducing infant stress in the promotion of the health and well-being of preterm infants.

Perspectives

I hope this article can help to promote nursing interventions such as kangaroo mother care in a more disciplined and consistent evidence-based protocol among health care workers in the NICU. Although healthcare personnel are well meaning , KMC is not the first focus with a goal of keeping mother an infant as one. One of the most acute forms of stress is mother-infant separation. Although SSC/KMC has been shown to improve health outcomes in all newborns and specifically in premature infants, the amount of time spent in SSC, and the duration of time in SSC has been minimal and inconsistent in neonatal care units world-wide. Data suggest that infants in the United States receive less than 1 hour of SSC per day and that this varies, with some preterm infants going weeks without any SSC/KMC .

Dorothy Forde
University of California, San Francisco

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This page is a summary of: Oxidative Stress Biomarker Decreased in Preterm Neonates Treated With Kangaroo Mother Care, Biological Research For Nursing, January 2020, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1099800419900231.
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