Abstract

Background Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is an easy and emotional care that can reduce the mortality and morbidity in premature infants, but often the relationship between mother and her newborn is delayed due to some barriers. The aim of this study was to investigate perceived benefits and barriers of mothers in this regard. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 121 mothers with premature infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Yazd Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Iran, studied using convenience sampling method in 2018. Data gathering accomplished by interviewing mothers using researcher-made questionnaire included baseline characteristics of parents and their infant and items measuring perceived benefits and barriers of mothers to KMC. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22.0 Results: Strengthening of the emotional relationship between mother and infant and a greater sense of confidence were the main perceived benefits of mothers. Not being in good physical and mental condition, lack of relevant knowledge and fear of performing KMC were the most important perceived barriers of mothers to KMC. The perceived benefits differed only in mother's ethnicity and father's occupation (P<0.05). The perceived barriers did not differ by any of demographic variables of parents and infants (P>0.05). Conclusion According to the results though the high perceived benefits of mothers in performing KMC, it seems that planning for improving mothers mental condition, providing mothers with necessary knowledge and reducing fear of caring can effectively promote doing KMC by mothers.