Kangaroo Position in Preterm Newborn Infants Under Oxygen Therapy

Due to the high rates of preterm newborns (PTNBs) admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) requiring differentiated support, the Kangaroo Mother Care (MC) emerged with the intention of reducing neonatal morbidity and mortality and hospital costs. , leading to more humanized support. MC was integrated into Humanized Care for low birth weight newborns, alleviating pain symptoms, improving the sleep-wake state, stimulating neuropsychomotor and sensory development, in addition to reducing stress. Consisting of three stages, the first stage begins with the detection of a high-risk pregnancy until the birth of the child, and when necessary continues in the NICU or Conventional Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit (UCINCo) during the newborn's hospitalization period. born (NB), the second stage takes place at the Canguru Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit (UCINCa) where the person responsible, with the support of the multidisciplinary team, participates in most of the care carried out in the NB and finally the third stage, which covers the period of dehospitalization, as well as monitoring the development of the newborn and providing guidance to their family, monitoring occurs between the maternity ward where the patient was hospitalized and the Basic Health Unit (UBS). Through a biopsychosocial intervention and based on the following pillars, the MC promotes welcoming newborns and their families, respect for individualities, promotion of skin-to-skin contact and involvement of the mother and father in the care of the newborn, promoting the encouraging breastfeeding and sensorimotor development, integrating the line of care for PTNBs and/or those with low birth weight (LBW), as well as their families. The kangaroo position (CP), which is part of the MC strategy, favors emotional bonding, cardiorespiratory, physiological and body temperature stability. Newborns who need to remain hospitalized in the NICU or UCINCo may require oxygen therapy support, due to the possibility of presenting hypoxia, hyaline membrane disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, heart failure and pulmonary hypertension, among others. It is extremely important to observe newborns who are using oxygen therapy, facilitating their weaning as early as possible, since, in high quantities and prolonged use, it can result in hyperoxia, especially in premature newborns, increasing risks of oxygen toxicity, reabsorption atelectasis, ventilation depression and retinopathy of prematurity13,15,16. From this perspective, this study aims to highlight the effects of the kangaroo position on the vital signs and respiratory comfort of premature and low birth weight newborns using oxygen therapy admitted to a Conventional Intermediate Neonatal Care Unit.