COVID-19: Positive mothers should continue kangaroo care with proper hygiene, says expert

A vaccinated person without any high-risk factor for infection should take care of the infant six feet from the mother when not in contact with her, the northeast’s only doctor of medicine for neonatology said

A positive mother should continue with kangaroo care with proper hygienic practices and preferably let vaccinated persons take care of the infant six feet away when not breastfeeding or in contact with her, the only doctor of medicine for neonatology in the northeast has said. Kangaroo mother care (KMC), initially developed in Colombia, is a method of care practised on babies, usually on a pre-term infant, where the infant is held skin-to-skin with his mother, father, or substitute caregiver. “There are no special precautions for the babies born of COVID-19 positive mothers. If there is no provision for separate delivery room for such a mother, her bed should be separated from the rest of the delivery beds. All life-saving birth practices like skin-to-skin care, delayed cord clamping, early breastfeeding, and KMC should be continued with proper hygienic practices,” Reeta Bora said in an interaction facilitated by the Assam centre of the UNICEF.