Pain processes in participants of the Kangaroo mother method

Abstract

The Kangaroo mother method is a relative low cost program in which the mother is the main source of care and heat necessaries for the survival of the premature. The newborn is positioned between her breasts, pulling her to the front, which may turn her propense to developing pains. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of pain in mothers that applied the referred method and to measure it by means of an analogical scale. This quantitative and descriptive study was carried out in two public maternities of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, in the period of July to November, 2003. The sample consisted of 15 mothers interned at the “Kangaroo” infirmaries, to who were applied two questionnaires: one at entering the hospital and other at least five days later. The data were analyzed through mean and standard deviation. Five (33%) of the studied mothers presented some pain process after the internment. From those, all referred that the pain was located in the thoracic region and shoulders, and three (55%) of the mothers who previously presented some pain said that it increased after beginning to apply the method. The results suggest that the posture adopted in the Kangaroo mother method requires a lot from the superior trunk muscles, region where the baby is positioned, and from the muscles that support the weight of the breasts, therefore consisting in a causing or aggravating factor of pain in the spinal column