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. 2019 Mar;8(3):1129-1133.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_348_18.

A time-motion analysis of the mothers staying in the neonatal care unit

Vallaree A Morgaonkar  1 , Dharti S Patel  1 , Dipen V Patel  1 , Ajay G Phatak  2 , Somashekhar M Nimbalkar  1   2
Affiliations

A time-motion analysis of the mothers staying in the neonatal care unit

Vallaree A Morgaonkar et al. J Family Med Prim Care. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Context: In addition to various barriers studied for kangaroo mother care (KMC), time opportunities for better implementation of KMC need to be studied.

Aim: Time-motion analysis of the mother's daily activities was carried out to identify scope to improve KMC.

Settings and design: This is a 24-h recall-based questionnaire study. Mothers were interviewed whose newborns were admitted at a tertiary and secondary care neonatal care unit of western India over a period of 9 months from November 2015 to July 2016.

Materials and methods: Mothers were approached when the preterm neonate and mother dyad was eligible for KMC, that is, when mothers were physically healthy and newborns were physiologically stable. A total of 60 mothers were enrolled in the study. Mothers' daily activities were noted, and time spent in each activity was charted for 3 consecutive days. Missed time opportunities which could be used to increase daily KMC hours were studied.

Statistical analysis used: To compare quantitative variables, two-sample unpaired t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used.

Results: The average time of activities which consumed most was 8.24 h for sleep/rest, 3.46 h for meals/snacks, 4.89 h for breastfeeding, and a daily average of only 1.4 h was used for KMC. A quite a significant proportion, that is, 3.89 h, was spent for meeting relatives which could be used for KMC as well without affecting social meetings.

Conclusion: Time-motion analysis was helpful to find out weak links in KMC implementation. Providing family-centered environment in terms of implementing KMC during meeting hours with family may augment KMC hours.

Keywords: Activity; breastfeeding; family-centered care; kangaroo mother care; newborn.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

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