Becoming a mother - Mothers' experience of Kangaroo Mother Care

Objective: To describe mothers' experiences of providing their preterm infants with Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC). Study design: A qualitative descriptive design. Setting: Two level III neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Sweden. Participants: Thirteen mothers of preterm infants. Methods: The mothers were interviewed when their infant had reached a corrected age of 4 months +/- 2 weeks. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The mothers described the skin-to-skin contact with, and closeness to, the preterm infant as something they valued, and involuntary physical separation as something they had to accept and adapt to. Providing the infant with breast milk by expressing and tube feeding was experienced as time-consuming and as impinging on the skin-to-skin contact. Conclusion: Mothers want to stay close to their preterm infant. The NICU environment and staff can facilitate KMC by providing a private space for parents and infants, and enable mothers to breastfeed and express breast milk by giving them support based on science and proven experience.