Bmc Pediatr
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Community initiated kangaroo mother care and early child development in low birth weight infants in India-a randomized controlled trial.
In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 8402 stable low birthweight (LBW) infants, majority being late preterm or term small for gestational age, community-initiated KMC (ciKMC) showed a significant improvement in survival. However, the effect of ciKMC on neurodevelopment is unclear. This is important to elucidate as children born with low birth weight are at high risk of neurodevelopmental deficits. In the first 552 stable LBW infants enrolled in the above trial, we evaluated the effect of ciKMC on neurodevelopmental outcomes during infancy. ⋯ Our study was unable to capture any effect of ciKMC on neurodevelopment during infancy in this sample of stable late preterm or term small for gestational age infants. Long term follow-up may provide meaningful insights.