Karin Cadwell, Ph.D.

Doctors Nashwa Samra, Amal El Taweel and our own Professor Karin Cadwell recently published their research findings, “The Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care on the Duration of Phototherapy of Infants Re-admitted for Neonatal Jaundice,” in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine. Out of the 50 jaundiced infants studied at an oasis hospital in Egypt, those that received intermittent kangaroo mother care (KMC: held by their mother in skin-to-skin contact which allows on-demand breastfeeding, among other benefits) required significantly shorter periods of phototherapy to recover from jaundice. Although further research is recommended to confirm these results, the study indicates that KMC is a safe, effective treatment to reduce the duration of necessary phototherapy and frees up ICU resources for sicker infants.