The Effect of Colic Massage and Kangaroo Care on Babies and Their Mothers

Data were collected from volunteer mothers of babies diagnosed with infantile colic who applied to the Child Health and Diseases outpatient clinic between March 2022 and February 2023 and who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The mothers were informed about the research through the "Informed Consent Form". Data were collected by the researcher through face-to-face interviews. The "Mother-Baby Information Form", "Infant Colic Scale", "Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale", "Barkin Maternal Function Scale" and "Beck Depression Scale" were applied to the mothers in the massage, kangaroo care and control groups in the outpatient clinic before the intervention. They were then given the "Crying and Sleep Duration Form" and asked to fill it out at home for a week. Mothers who filled out the crying and sleep duration forms for a week were given an appointment for a home visit. The homes of these mothers were visited and the crying and sleep duration forms filled out for a week were collected. After collection, mothers were taught infantile colic massage and kangaroo care on a baby manikin according to randomization and were allowed to practice (The researcher has a "holistic infant massage certificate"). Mothers in the massage group applied colic massage according to the "Educational Colic Massage Checklist" for 15-20 minutes twice a day for three weeks when the baby was calm and during colic attacks. Mothers in the kangaroo care group applied kangaroo care according to the "Educational Kangaroo Care Checklist" for 15-20 minutes twice a day for three weeks when the baby was calm and during colic attacks. No intervention was made to the mothers in the control group. Mothers in all three groups filled out the "Crying and Sleep Duration Form" again for one week in the last week of the study. At the end of the study, the "Infantile Colic Scale", "Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale", "Barkin Maternal Function Scale" and "Beck Depression Scale" were applied to the mothers in all three groups again (Mothers were supported with video calls and video recordings during the first massage and kangaroo care application and when needed). The study lasted four weeks in total and the intervention lasted three weeks.