Background & objectives:Kangaroo mother care (KMC - early continuous skin-to-skin contact between mother and infants) has been recommended as an alternative care for low birth weight infants. There is limited evidence in our country on KMC initiated at home. The present study was undertaken to study acceptability of KMC in different community settings.Methods:A community-based pilot study was carried out at three sites in the States of Odisha, Gujarat and Maharashtra covering rural, urban and rural tribal population, respectively. Trained health workers provided IEC (information, education and communication) on KMC during antenatal period along with essential newborn care messages. These messages were reinforced during the postnatal period. Outcome measures were the proportion of women accepting KMC, duration of KMC/day and total number of days continuing KMC. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were also carried out.Results:KMC was provided to 101 infants weighing 1500-2000 g; 57.4 per cent were preterm. Overall, 80.2 per cent mothers received health education on KMC during antenatal period, family members (68.3%) also attended KMC sessions along with pregnant women and 55.4 per cent of the women initiated KMC within 72 h of birth. KMC was provided on an average for five hours per day. Qualitative survey data indicated that the method was acceptable to mothers and family members; living in nuclear family, household work, twin pregnancy, hot weather, etc., were cited as reasons for not being able to practice KMC for a longer duration.Interpretation & conclusions:It was feasible to provide KMC using existing infrastructure, and the method was acceptable to most mothers of low birth infants.

Low Birth Weight (LBW) is a major risk factor for neonatal and infant mortality worldwide. In 2015, the LBW rate was 22.6% in Bangladesh. The present study was conducted to estimate the rate of LBW in urban Dhaka and to observe its association with maternal age and socioeconomic status. This retrospective study was carried out at selected hospitals in Dhaka City. Birth weight, type of facility, mode of delivery and age of mothers of 736 babies born from 2014 to 2016 were collected from the recorded database of these facilities. Frequency analysis, bivariate analysis, with Chi-square test (χ 2 ) and Pearson's correlation were conducted as test of significance. The prevalence of LBW was 30.2% in Dhaka City, and the mean birth weight of neonates was 2.65 kg. The results of the study indicated that at least three children in every 10 live births are born with LBW in urban Dhaka. Younger maternal age (≤19 years) was significantly associated with LBW (p = 0.020). Pearson's correlation found a weak positive linear relationship between mother's age and birth weight of babies (r = 0.108; p = 0.01). Neonates from government facilities, representing the lower socioeconomic group, had a significantly higher LBW rate. The findings of the study will help to initiate preventive programs and to develop public health nutrition interventions to reduce LBW in Bangladesh.