This study investigated the implementation of the Kangaroo Mother Method (KMM), at a Maternity Center in the city of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil from 2000 to 2002. The aims of this study were to characterize the neonate participants, and analyze their special healthcare needs and the parents' demands for health education. An exploratory and descriptive study was conducted and the data was gathered from charts of 116 neonates. The results showed that 87.9% were premature with very low birth weight; their length of hospital stay was from 8 to 56 days in neonatal intensive care and kangaroo mother unit; 51.7% were breastfeeding in the first stage, 93% in the second, and 15.1% in the third. The smallest weight for initiating the KMM first stage was 1,250g, and in the third one, 1,800 g; 84.9% of them required medication, developmental, technology, and an adaptation of everyday care. Thus, the demands for developing parents' health education should center on these children's healthcare needs.
Pediatric nursing; Newborn infant; Child care