BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Neonatology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative strategies in maternal and infant health: Focus on non-pharmacological interventionsView all 6 articles
Community-based Kangaroo Mother Care in low-birth-weight infants: A quality improvement study in the urban slums of Kolkata, West Bengal
Provisionally accepted
- Child In Need Institute, Calcutta, India
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Background: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is recommended for low-birth-weight (LBW) infants in both facility and community, yet in India, KMC is largely confined to healthcare facilities. Evidence on the feasibility of implementing community-based KMC (c-KMC) in urban slum settings is limited. This quality improvement exploratory study explored the feasibility, safety, and adherence of implementing c-KMC in the urban slums of Kolkata, India. Methods: A preliminary qualitative assessment explored barriers to c-KMC through in-depth interviews with mothers of LBW infants (n=3) who received facility-initiated KMC, and two focus group discussions with frontline health workers (n=6). From September 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024, KMC was implemented on stable LBW newborns (≤2200 grams; n=218) in community settings. Mothers received counselling, training, and KMC kits. Home visits were conducted on days 7, 14, and 28 after birth or discharge to reinforce KMC and breastfeeding. Results: Mothers had limited KMC knowledge and received minimal counselling, or follow-up post-discharge. Frontline health workers cited workload, population density, migration, and space constraints as major barriers to c-KMC. Among 218 infants enrolled, only 23.4% received facility-initiated KMC. Average KMC duration was 3.4 hours/day at homes across follow-up visits. By day 28, 95% of mothers continued KMC, no KMC related adverse event was noted and 84% practiced exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: c-KMC implementation was feasible and safe in slum settings when supported through structured counselling, home visits, and trained workers. The findings support the operational feasibility of integrating c-KMC within existing home-based newborn care platforms.
Keywords: breastfeeding, community initiated care, feasibility, Infant, Kangaroo-Mother Care Method, low birth weight, neonate
Received: 25 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Halder, KHAN, Gupta, Das and Mukherjee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: TILA KHAN
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