Maternal Kangaroo care education program in the neonatal intensive care unit improved mothers' perceptions, knowledge, perceived barriers and stress relates to premature infant

AIM: To assess the effectiveness of the maternal kangaroo care education programme over 1 month and 3 months on the mother's perception, knowledge, perceived barriers and stress. DESIGN: A quasi‐experimental and longitudinal study was conducted among mothers with premature infants. METHODS: Forty‐eight mother‐infant dyads were enrolled per arm in the control and experimental groups. The control group received standard routine care, while the experimental group received a maternal kangaroo care education program. Data were collected through self‐administered Kangaroo Care Questionnaires. Chi‐square, the general linear model and repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyse data. RESULTS: The demographics are a majority of Malay mothers with multipara, a caesarean delivery with prematurity. At 3 months post‐intervention, the experimental group reported a significant reduction in stress, a positive perception and good knowledge towards kangaroo care implementation. The mothers' perceived barriers towards kangaroo care significantly decreased after 3 months in the experimental group.