Kangaroo mother method: a contact of love and affection - nurse performance to guide this method

Abstract

This descriptive study with qualitative approach had as objective: to analyze, from nurses perspective, information received from the nursing staff of a neonatal maternity of Rio de Janeiro city concerning kangaroo mother method. Data were collected between September and November 2007, by means of an interview which contained opened questions about the kangaroo method. The interviewed subjects were six neonatal nurses. The research scenery was a public maternity of Rio de Janeiro city. Two thematic categories were created: 1) the skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby encouraged by nurse, as part of low birth-weight infants and/or premature care; 2) qualified nurse on the kangaroo method. We conclude that there is still a resistance to this method and a considerable number of nurses do not include kangaroo method guidelines in their neonatal services.