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Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit

Background: Over 15 million preterm babies are born annually and are the leading contributor to neonatal deaths. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), incorporating skin-to-skin care, breastfeeding, early discharge and close follow up, decreases morbidity and mortality in preterm and low-birth-weight infants....

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Main Author: Williams, Sadeeka
Other Authors: Rhoda, Natasha
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Williams, Sadeeka
author2 Rhoda, Natasha
author_browse Rhoda, Natasha
Williams, Sadeeka
author_facet Rhoda, Natasha
Williams, Sadeeka
author_sort Williams, Sadeeka
collection Thesis
description Background: Over 15 million preterm babies are born annually and are the leading contributor to neonatal deaths. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), incorporating skin-to-skin care, breastfeeding, early discharge and close follow up, decreases morbidity and mortality in preterm and low-birth-weight infants. Few recent South African studies have looked at outcomes of KMC beyond the neonatal period. Aim: The primary objective was to describe the post-discharge clinical course of KMC infants over six months. The secondary objectives were to correlate neonatal and maternal characteristics pre-discharge to outcomes – mortality and morbidity. Setting: George Hospital is the regional hospital for the Eden and Central Karoo districts, with its tertiary referral centre 400km away in Cape Town. In these areas, poverty and teenage pregnancies result in more than a quarter of learners dropping out of school before completing Grade 12. The hospital has intensive care, high care and KMC units. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study which reviewed folders of neonates discharged from KMC in 2013. Neonates with birth weights of 2000g or more and neonates referred out were excluded. Hospital readmissions were used as a proxy for morbidity and a descriptive analysis was done. Results: Fifty-two infant records were reviewed. Thirteen infants (25%) accounted for 21 readmissions. Six readmissions occurred in winter. There were significant associations between being readmitted and birth weight and breastfeeding. Thirty-five of the 52 infants were alive at six months. None were known to have died. Conclusion: Larger prospective studies on KMC infant outcomes are needed in South Africa
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:10.861Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/30798 Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit Williams, Sadeeka Rhoda, Natasha Els, Ilse Background: Over 15 million preterm babies are born annually and are the leading contributor to neonatal deaths. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), incorporating skin-to-skin care, breastfeeding, early discharge and close follow up, decreases morbidity and mortality in preterm and low-birth-weight infants. Few recent South African studies have looked at outcomes of KMC beyond the neonatal period. Aim: The primary objective was to describe the post-discharge clinical course of KMC infants over six months. The secondary objectives were to correlate neonatal and maternal characteristics pre-discharge to outcomes – mortality and morbidity. Setting: George Hospital is the regional hospital for the Eden and Central Karoo districts, with its tertiary referral centre 400km away in Cape Town. In these areas, poverty and teenage pregnancies result in more than a quarter of learners dropping out of school before completing Grade 12. The hospital has intensive care, high care and KMC units. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study which reviewed folders of neonates discharged from KMC in 2013. Neonates with birth weights of 2000g or more and neonates referred out were excluded. Hospital readmissions were used as a proxy for morbidity and a descriptive analysis was done. Results: Fifty-two infant records were reviewed. Thirteen infants (25%) accounted for 21 readmissions. Six readmissions occurred in winter. There were significant associations between being readmitted and birth weight and breastfeeding. Thirty-five of the 52 infants were alive at six months. None were known to have died. Conclusion: Larger prospective studies on KMC infant outcomes are needed in South Africa 2020-01-23T12:53:20Z 2020-01-23T12:53:20Z 2019 2020-01-22T08:48:55Z Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30798 eng application/pdf Department of Paediatrics and Child Health Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Williams, Sadeeka
Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit
title_full Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit
title_fullStr Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit
title_full_unstemmed Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit
title_short Outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a South African Kangaroo Mother Care Unit
title_sort outcomes of preterm infants discharged early from a south african kangaroo mother care unit
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30798
work_keys_str_mv AT williamssadeeka outcomesofpreterminfantsdischargedearlyfromasouthafricankangaroomothercareunit