Objective: To explore the effects of kangaroo mother care on pain response and physical development of full-term newborns. Methods: 100 cases of full-term newborns delivered vaginally were selected as the research objects and randomly divided into a control group and an observation group 50 cases for each group. The control group was given routine care, while the observation group was given kangaroo mother care on the basis of routine care. In addition to 1h of kangaroo mother care was given the maternal from 5h after birth in the observation group, and within 3 days of hospitalization until 30 days after birth twice daily. The newborns of observation group were given kangaroo mother care 30 minutes before heel-stick until 10 minutes after collecting blood. The control group experienced the same heel-stick and received the standard hospital care only. Throughout the heel-stick procedure, heart rate and oxygen saturation were monitored. The height, body weight and head circumference of newborns 30 days after birth of two groups were recorded. Results: During heel-stick, heart rate was significantly reduced in the observation group compared with that of the control group (P< 0.01), while oxygen saturation was significantly higher in the observation group than that of the control group (P< 0.01). The increases of height, weight and head circumference of observation group 30 days after birth were significant higher than those of control group (P＜0.01). Conclusion: Kangaroo mother care can alleviate the pain response and promote the physical development for full-term newborns, so it is worth to be widely used in clinical practice.

Kangaroo mother care (KMC), Full-term newborns, Pain, Physical development