'Kangaroo mothering' helps boost a child's health and intelligence
“Kangaroo mothering”, the practice of continuous skin-to-skin contact with a newborn baby, results in healthier, more intelligent and successful children, a new study finds.
A 20-year follow-up research found that those brought up in the kangaroo method scored higher in IQ tests and earned 53% more. They were also found to be less likely to have behavior problems than babies in a control group.
Followers of the method nest their kids in a “kangaroo” position on their chest as soon as possible after birth. Both mother and baby are supposed to go home as quickly as possible.
The technique is often used in cases of premature birth (早产). In such cases, the trained mother acts as the child's main source of stimulation (刺激) and food, in the form of breast feeding. Between 1993 and 1996, a group of more than 700 prematurely born babies in Columbia were, on the basis of random selection, placed either away from mother or were raised using the kangaroo method. Two decades later, a follow-up survey funded by the Canadian Government has shown that those who went through the latter method benefited by comparison.
Published in the journal Paediatrics, the research shows that kangaroo mothering offered significant protection against early death, with a 3.5% death rate compared to a 7.7% rate in the control group. IQ test also showed a small but significant advantage of 3.5% compared to other infants.
Lead researcher Dr Nathalie Charpak, of the Kangaroo Foundation in Bogota, said the method has “significant, long-lasting social and behavioral protective effects”. “We firmly believe that this is a powerful, efficient, scientifically based healthcare intervention that can be used in all settings, from those with very restricted to unrestricted access to healthcare.”
The study also found that, compared with babies in the control group, those raised in the kangaroo method went on to develop bigger brains, with significantly larger volumes of gray matter.
