Roller, C. G. (2005).Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing,34(1), 210-217.
In this phenomenologic study, the author explored the experiences of 10 mothers providing kangaroo care (KC) for their preterm newborns. The author conducted semistructured tape-recorded interviews at 1 to 4 weeks postpartum with mothers who had provided KC for their 32- to 36-week premature infants. Methodologic rigor was ensured through data saturation, member checking, assessment of descriptive vividness, methodologic congruence, analytical preciseness, theoretical connectedness, relevance (Burns, 1989), and the 10 determinants of rigor as delineated by Munhall (1994). The question asked was: "What was it like to provide KC for your preterm infant while you were in the hospital?" The two predominant themes that emerged from analysis included kept from knowing and getting to know. The mothers described how they wanted to get to know their babies but were kept from doing so immediately after birth when their babies were taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Most only had a brief moment to see or touch their infants before transfer. Once in the NICU, mothers found the equipment annoying and disruptive to touching and holding their babies. The second theme (getting to know their babies) was demonstrated by the importance and reassurance of receiving concrete information about their baby's progress/status. Also as part of this theme mothers reported that KC was a "warm, calming, positive, bonding experience" that helped them to get to know their babies better. All 10 of the mothers in this sample reported that KC was a pleasant experience and that once they began KC they began to know their babies better. This study does support previous research that mothers find KC beneficial; in this case KC helped them to get to know their babies better.
Comment by Judy Beal
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