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RecruitingNCT04252547Updated May 2, 2025

Effect of Kangaroo Care on Test Weighing

An interventional study of Kangaroo Care and Control in Kangaroo Care, Weight Gain and Oxygen Saturation, sponsored by Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa. Recruiting at 1 site in Turkey. Open to participants aged 32 Weeks to 40 Weeks, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-02.

Sponsored by Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Sep 2025, 1 year 2 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jun 2024; still recruiting 2 years 5 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
46
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
32 Weeks to 40 Weeks
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The study will be conducted with the Crossover Randomized Controlled Method. The infants who have attained oral feeding in the neonatal intensive care unit will be divided into two groups via randomization in the computer environment. After the randomization, kangaroo care will be applied to the infants in Group 1 during the first feeding hour when they are included in the study and they will be breastfed by their mothers without any other application during the next feeding. On the other hand, no application will be performed on the infants in Group 2 during the first feeding hour when they are included in the study and kangaroo care will be applied to them during the second feeding hour. The infants in both groups will be breastfed by their mothers during the feeding hours.

Read the detailed description

Test weighing is a feeding evaluation method which is used for evaluating the increase in infant's body weight and the amount of food intake before and after breastfeeding. Each gram is evaluated to be equivalent to one cc breast milk. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of kangaroo care applied to the preterm infants that have attained oral feeding and are breastfed by their mothers, on their physiological parameters, feeding condition and body weight increase. After weighing the infant only in his/her diaper before the feeding and applying kangaroo care in which skin-to-skin contact will be provided for half an hour, the mother will breastfeed the infant. The infant will be weighed once again after the feeding without diaper change and the effect of kangaroo care on test weighing and physiological parameters during the feeding process will be evaluated. Sample size of the study has been determined by the power analysis, in line with the results obtained from the studies which have been conducted using a similar research method. According to the analysis results, it has been calculated as 23 for each group and 46 in total. Parents of the infants meeting the study inclusion criteria will be informed both in written and verbally and then the study will be conducted with mothers who agree to participate in the study with their infants.

02

Conditions studied

  • Kangaroo Care
  • Weight Gain
  • Oxygen Saturation
  • Heart Rate

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • kangaroo care
  • test weighing
  • Heart rate
  • oxygen saturation
  • preterm infants
03

In context

Weight Gain

317 studies on the registry are indexed under Weight Gain; 48 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 46 is below the median of 83 across 251 interventional studies indexed under Weight Gain.

Browse Weight Gain studies →

Lead sponsor

Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa is the lead sponsor of 699 studies on the registry; 213 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
32 Weeks to 40 Weeks
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Agreeing to participate in the study for parents.

The inclusion criteria for infants were as follows;

  • Attaining to oral feeding by the physician in the neonatal intensive care unit
  • Being born at 26-36+6 gestational week which is determined according to the mother's last period cycle
  • Being at 32-39+6 postmenstrual week during the time they are included in the study
  • Having body weight of 1500 grams and above
  • Being breastfed at least once
  • Having no health problems other than being preterm

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

The exclusion criteria for infants were as follows;

  • Suffering from gastrointestinal, neurological or genetic diseases (such as necrotizing enterocolitis, intracranial bleeding, hydrocephalia, omphalocele, down syndrome, gastroschisis) and other diseases
  • Having a condition obstructing oral feeding (such as cleft palate, cleft lip, facial muscle paralysis, craniofacial abnormalities etc.)
  • Receiving oxygen support
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
46 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Grup 1

    -"During the Procedure" Group 1 The preprocedural measurements(weight, heart rate and oxygen saturation ) will be applied to the infants in Group 1 before the first feeding hour when they are included in the study and then they will be held on their mothers' chest for skin-to-skin kangaroo care for half an hour. Their heart rate and oxygen saturation will be recorded for half an hour. At the end of the kangaroo care, the infant will be breastfed by his/her mother. During the second feeding hour, his/her heart rate and oxygen saturation will begin to be recorded ten minutes before the feeding hour. The data will be recorded for ten minutes and then the infant will be taken out of the incubator and weight is measured only in his/her clean diaper. He/she will be handed over to the mother to breastfeed.

    Other: Kangaroo Care · Other: Control

  • Experimental
    Grup 2

    - "During the Procedure" Group 2 The preprocedural measurements will be applied to the infants in Group 2 before the first feeding hour when they are included in the study and then they will be breastfed by their mothers. The preprocedural measurements (weight, heart rate and oxygen saturation) will be applied to the infant during the second feeding hour and then he/she will be held on his/her mothers' chest for skin-to-skin kangaroo care for half an hour. Their heart rate and oxygen saturation will be recorded for half an hour. At the end of the kangaroo care, the infant will be breastfed by his/her mother.

    Other: Kangaroo Care · Other: Control

Interventions

  • OtherKangaroo Care

    The preprocedural measurements (weight, heart rate, and oxygen saturation) will be recorded before the first feeding hour when they are included in the study and then they will be held on their mothers' chest for skin-to-skin kangaroo care for half an hour. Their heart rate and oxygen saturation will be recorded for half an hour. At the end of the kangaroo care, the infant will be breastfed by his/her mother. A chronometer will be started at that moment he/she begins sucking and terminated when he/she stops. The infant's heart rate and oxygen saturation will also continue to be recorded during the breastfeeding process. When the breastfeeding process is over, the infant will be allowed to rest in his/her mother's arms for two minutes and his/her physiological parameters will be recorded. Following the breastfeeding process, the infant will be weight is measured without a diaper change and his/her weight will be recorded. Then he/she will be taken back in the incubator to sleep.

  • OtherControl

    The preprocedural measurements (weight, heart rate, and oxygen saturation) will be recorded before feeding when they are included in the study and then they will be breastfed by their mothers. The chronometer will be started at that moment he/she begins sucking and terminated when he/she stops. Also, the infant's heart rate and oxygen saturation will continue to be recorded during the breastfeeding process. When the breastfeeding process is over, the infant will be allowed to rest in his/her mother's arms for two minutes and his/her physiological parameters will be recorded. Following the breastfeeding process, the infant will be weighed without a diaper change and his/her weight will be recorded. When the care process is over, it will be taken back in the incubator to sleep.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Test Weighing

    The infants' body weight before and after feeding will be measured using an 'Infant Scale'. The infants will be weighed naked only in their diaper before and after feeding, in order to evaluate the amount of milk they have received from their mothers' breast.

    Time frame: Change the body weight before feeding to after feeding at 1 day

Secondary outcomes

  1. Heart Rate

    A device branded "Masimo Brand Radical 7 Pulse Oximetry" will be used to determine the infants' oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Heart rate of all the infants in Group 1 and Group 2 will begin to be recorded ten minutes before the first and second feeding hours when they are included in the study.

    Time frame: Change the Heart Rate 10 minutes before feeding to 2 minutes after feeding

  2. Oxygen Saturation

    A device branded "Masimo Brand Radical 7 Pulse Oximetry" will be used to determine the infants' oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Oxygen Saturation of all the infants in Group 1 and Group 2 will begin to be recorded ten minutes before the first and second feeding hours when they are included in the study.

    Time frame: Change the Oxygen Saturation 10 minutes before feeding to 2 minutes after feeding

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 2, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04252547
Responsible party
Canan Genç (RN, Principal Investigator, Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 5, 2020
Start date
Jun 9, 2024
Primary completion
Sep 9, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 9, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
May 2, 2025

Study contacts

Canan Genç, BSN
Contact
cananuzun5561@gmail.com
(0216) 910 19 07
Duygu Gözen, Assoc. Prof.
Contact
dgozen@istanbul.edu.tr
Duygu Gözen, Assoc. Prof.
principal investigator · Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing
Ayhan Taştekin, prof.
principal investigator · Istanbul Medipol University, Pediatrics

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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