Effect of Kangaroo Care Following Immersion Bath on Body Temperature in Preterm Neonates

Abstract

Objectives

One of the aspects of routine care in stable preterm in the ward is bathing. However, during and after bath, drop in body temperature has been observed. Providing Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) instead of routinely covering the baby with clothes following bath helps in better thermoregulation. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of standard care and KMC following immersion bathing in stable preterm neonates in postnatal ward.

Patients and Methods

Prospective nonrandomized interventional study done in the postnatal ward of a tertiary referral hospital. All consecutively born preterm neonates with corrected gestational age between 34 weeks and 37 weeks (mean 35 weeks +5) were enrolled in the study. Neonates received immersion bath in a tub using water temperature adjusted to 37 to 38℃. Neonates in this group were allocated to receive standard care and KMC immediately after bath on Day 1 and Day 2, respectively. Axillary temperature was recorded before bath (baseline), immediately after bath and subsequently at 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, and 60 min after bath. Data was analyzed to compare the effect of standard care and KMC immediately after bath.

Results

The pre-bath mean temperature between standard care and KMC were 36.27℃ and 36.47℃, respectively. In both standard care and KMC group immediately after bath there was no fall in temperature from baseline. Mean difference from baseline temperature between standard care and KMC group at 30 min, 45 min, and 60 min were 0.2℃, 0.25℃, and 0.18℃, respectively, all of which were statistically significant (P < .05).

Conclusions

In this pilot study on immersion bathing followed by KMC, temperature regulation was better with KMC after bathing, with a mean temperature difference ranging between 0.18 ℃ and 0.25℃ (95% CI –0.103 to0.374) between 30 min and 60 min of bathing.