Close contact between mother and premature baby may boost infant's survival: Study

New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) A method of care involving skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her prematurely born baby may improve the child's chances of survival significantly, according to a review of studies conducted in India.

The research, published in the BMJ Global Health journal, found that starting the intervention within 24 hours of birth and carrying it out for at least eight hours a day both appear to make the approach even more effective in reducing mortality and infection.

The method of care known as "kangaroo mother care" (KMC) involves an infant being carried, usually by the mother, in a sling with skin-to-skin contact and many studies already carried out have shown this is a way of reducing mortality and the risk of infection for the child, they said.