Abstract
Kangaroo mother care (KMC), which includes skin-to-skin contact (SSC) and exclusive breastfeeding, has become a widely recognized and cost-effective method for improving the health and survival of preterm and low-birth-weight (LBW) infants. This review explores the evolution of implementing early KMC, its integration into neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), and the barriers hindering its widespread adoption. The benefits of early KMC include better temperature regulation, improved breastfeeding, stronger parent-infant bonding, and reduced mortality. However, many hospitals and communities still face challenges, including a lack of awareness, limited training among healthcare staff, cultural resistance, and inadequate infrastructure. To overcome these obstacles, this review emphasizes the importance of supportive policies, parental education, and ongoing training for healthcare providers. It also discusses the need for practical models and implementation strategies to help expand early KMC programs at both the local and national levels. Drawing on global experiences and new data from countries that have successfully scaled up early KMC, this review presents a vision in which families play a central role in caring for their newborns from birth. Making early KMC available to all who need it, both in hospitals and in the community, is essential for improving newborn survival and achieving global health targets, including the Sustainable Development Goals. This review calls for stronger collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and healthcare workers to establish early KMC as a standard practice in newborn care worldwide.