The impact of kangaroo mother care (skin-to-skin care with exclusive breastfeeding) may have an impact on the child far beyond the immediate postpartum period. A study published in the January issue of Pediatrics by Charpak et al. indicates that kangaroo mother care (KMC) “had significant, long-lasting social and behavioral protective effects 20 years after the intervention.” The subjects of the study had participated in a RCT study analyzing KMC from 1993 to 1996. From 2012 to 2014, the KMC and control groups from that study were compared for health status and neurologic, cognitive, and social functioning with the use of neuroimaging, neurophysiological, and behavioral tests.

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Reference: Charpak N, Tessier R, Ruiz JG, et al. Twenty-year Follow-up of Kangaroo Mother Care Versus Traditional Care. Pediatrics. 2017;139(1):e20162063