Relationship between positioning of premature infants in Kangaroo Mother Care and early neuromotor development.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between prone and lateral positioning of preterm infants in Kangaroo Mother Care and early neuromotor development. METHODS Eighty preterm infants born at Instituto Materno-Infantil de Pernambuco, Brazil, admitted to the Kangaroo Mother Care Unit between July and October 2004 were divided into two groups. Forty infants were placed in prone position (PP), while the remaining 40 children were kept in lateral decubitus (LD). On admission and at discharge from the Kangaroo Mother Care Unit, all infants underwent a biomechanical and a neurobehavioral assessment (Dubowitz exam). Statistical analyses were performed using Epi-Info 6.4, with calculation of 95% confidence intervals and significance established at p < 0.05. RESULTS The groups were homogeneous prior to the intervention. Infants placed in LD showed a more flexed posture, and also adopted a more twisted trunk posture. The LD group improved in 13 out of 16 items assessed by the Dubowitz exam, while the group assigned to PP improved in only five items. CONCLUSION Placement of infants in LD had a favorable impact on early neuromotor development in our sample. However, additional longitudinal studies are needed to better clarify this relationship.