Can kangaroo care help newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome? Case report

Abstract

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is on the rise and NAS newborns are very agitated. Because Kangaroo Care (KC) soothes newborns, we wanted to know what NAS newborns’ responses to KC were and how long mothers spontaneously offered KC. A case study design was used and two mother-newborn dyads were recruited by convenience sampling to have Modified Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Scoring System score and length of KC measured when mothers were with their newborns. Modified Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Scoring System scores did not decrease with one hour of KC, but did with three or more hours of continuous KC. Medications were regularly administered throughout. One mother provided 60-70 minutes of KC each time and the other mother provided 80 minutes-11 hours of KC. KC may be a supportive therapy for withdrawing newborns.