Evaluation of a mHealth System for Tracking Kangaroo Mother Care and Temperature in Southern India

Prem Mony of St John's Research Institute in India along with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, will develop a temperature sensor to be worn by caregivers during kangaroo mother care of infants up to four weeks old combined with a mobile device to transmit data for analysis and real-time feedback. Kangaroo mother care involves continuous skin-to-skin contact with the mother to keep the infant warm, and is particularly valuable for protecting preterm infants. However, how long and how often it is actually used in the home, and thus its value, has been difficult to quantify. They will build a mobile phone application and establish a data-monitoring platform that can be combined with their wearable, energy-independent temperature sensor, which has already been tested in India. They will also add visual or audio alerts to remind mothers to use kangaroo mother care, and alert them when the baby's temperature gets too high or too low. Their approach will be tested in a small-scale clinical trial of 30-40 mothers.