Table 1

KMC vs conventional newborn care – characteristics of included studies

S. no	Author, Year	Country	Stabilisation status	Intervention group	Control group	Age at initiation of KMC (days)	KMC duration (hours per day*)	Last follow-up	Schema for follow-up
1.	Ali et al 10	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	4.7	6.3±1.5 (range 4 to 12)	6 months corrected age	Weekly until 40 weeks’ postmenstrual age, fortnightly until 3 months corrected age, and monthly until 6 months corrected age
2.	Alisjahbana et al 11	Indonesia	Stable	KMC in community	Conventional home care	–	–	4 weeks after discharge	Weekly for 4 weeks after discharge
3.	Archarya et al 9	Nepal	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	–	6	In-hospital	Not reported
4.	Bier et al 12	USA	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional clothed	29	–	6 months after hospital discharge	At 1, 3, and 6 months after hospital discharge
5.	Boo et al 13	Malaysia	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional NICU	25	1	In-hospital	Not reported
6.	Cattaneo et a 14	Ethiopia	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional open cribs, incubator or warmer	10	20	30 days postnatal age	Four times: at 3, 10, 20, and 30 days, and as usually scheduled at each hospital afterwards
7.	Charpak et al 15	Columbia	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional incubator	4	24	1 year and 20 years for a subset of enrolled subjected	At least once a week until 40 weeks’postmenstrual age; then monthly up to 3 months' corrected age, every 6 weeks until at least 6 months' corrected age, and every third month until 12 months' corrected age
8.	Bhavana et al 16	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	–	13–14	Until 2.5 kg weight	After discharge, babies were followed-up twice a week for the first week and weekly until babies reached 2.5 kg
9.	Pratiwi et al 17	Indonesia	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	1	10.0±1.8	In-hospital	–
10.	Gathwala et al 18	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	1.7	10.2±1.5	3 months of age	Weekly until 3 months of age
11.	Ghavane et al 19	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	14	8	40 weeks postmenstrual age	Weekly until 40 weeks' postmenstrual age
12.	Hake-Brooks et al 20	USA	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	1	–		Follow-up done telephonically at 6 weeks and 3 months and by an interview in the clinic at 6, 12, and 18 months
13.	Kadam et al 21	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	3.2	9.8±3.7	In-hospital	–
14.	Kumbhojkar et al 22	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	3	11.5	40 weeks’ PMA or weight of 2500 g	Weekly until 40 weeks' postmenstrual age in preterm infants, or until a weight of 2500 g was reached
15.	Mazumder et al 4	India	Stable	KMC in community	Conventional home care	32.7 hours	11.5 vs 0.2	28 days postnatal age and 1 year follow-up	Mothers and infants in the intervention group were visited at home (days 1–3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28) to support kangaroo mother care
16.	Md Mahbubul et al 23	Bangladesh	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	1.8	–	In-hospital	Outcome measures ended before hospital discharge
17.	Mwendwa 2012	Kenya	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	10	8	In-hospital	None. Only in-hospital outcomes reported
18.	Neu and Robinson26	USA	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional	15	1	6 months of age	Twice a week for 2 weeks, followed by weekly visits for 6 months
19.	Nimbalkar et al 27	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional	Immediate	17.0±0.3	In-hospital	–
20.	Ramanathan et al 282001	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	11.8	4	In-hospital	–
21.	Roberts et al 29	Australia	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional clothed	31	1.6±0.9	6 months of age	At 6 weeks after discharge or at 3 months of age, whichever was later, and at 6 months
22.	Rojas et al 30	USA	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional incubator	19	1.3±0.7	In-hospital	–
23.	Sloan et al 31	Ecuador	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional incubator or crib	13	–	6 months of age	At 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 months of age
24.	Suman et al 32	India	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional warmer or cots	3.7	13.5	40 weeks post menstrual age or until weight of 2500 g	Weekly until 40 weeks' postmenstrual age in preterm infants, or until a weight of 2500 g in term SGA infants
25.	Wang et al 33	China	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional		2.5	6 months corrected age	Follow-up appointments in outpatient setting at 40 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months CA
26.	Whitelaw et al 34	UK	Stable	KMC in facility	Conventional incubator or crib	16	0.6 (0 to 1.5)	12 months of age	At 6, 9, and 12 months of age
27.	Worku et al 35	Ethiopia	Unstable	KMC in facility	Conventional incubator or crib	10	Continuous	Until hospital discharge	–

*mean (± SD) duration of KMC in KMC group
CA, corrected age; KMC, Kangaroo mother care; NICU, give details; SGA, small for gesational age.