Electromyographic activity of preterm newborns in the kangaroo position: a cohort study.

Objective: To compare the electromyographic activity of preterm newborns placed in the kangaroo position with the activity of newborns not placed in this position.

Design: A cohort study.

Setting: A Kangaroo Unit sector and a Nursery sector in a secondary and tertiary care at a mother-child hospital in Recife, Brazil.

Effect of the kangaroo position on the electromyographic activity of preterm children: a follow-up study.

Background: One of the components of the Kangaroo Method (KM) is the adoption of the Kangaroo Position. The skin-to-skin contact and the vertical position the child adopts when in this position may provide sensorial, vestibular and postural stimuli for the newborn. The Kangaroo Position may encourage vestibular stimuli and a flexed posture of the limbs, suggesting the hypothesis that the Kangaroo Position may have an impact on flexor muscle tone.