The kangaroo mother care (KMC) requires very little investment. While the hospitals and centres have invested in Lycra bands to hold the baby and a recliner for the mother, doctors say mothers can improvise with a sari or dupattah at home. Fathers are also taught to hold the baby to their chest with a towel. The Lycra band costs Rs. 60-Rs. 70 apiece, and the recliner a few hundred rupees. Each maternity centre under the programme is given three or four recliners. “We advise the mother to place the newborn in a frog position between her breasts and strap on the band. The baby will not fall, and she can carry on with her work. The mother must follow good personal and cord hygiene and provide skin-to-skin contact to the baby. The mother continues the practice until the baby becomes restless and wants to move out,” Dr. Srinivasan says. The babies show remarkable improvement from day one. With the mother-baby bond established, the baby begins to feed well. “Even a gain in weight of 10 gm a day is a huge improvement,” he points out.

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