Table 3.

Early vs late-initiated KMC – characteristics of included studies

S. no	Author, Year	Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria	Intervention: early KMC as planned/ as achieved	Control: late KMC as planned/as achieved
1	WHO iKMC 2021	All infants with birth weight of 1.0 to 1.799 kg, regardless of gestation, type of delivery, or singleton or twin status (irrespective of clinical stability).	Infants who were unable to breathe spontaneously by 1 hour or who had a major congenital malformation	Immediately after birth; Median initiation time of 1.3 hours after birth	KMC began after the neonate recovered from preterm birth complications and was at least 24 hours old; Median initiation time 53.6 hours after birth
2	Brotherton 2021	Birth weight <2000 g and age 1–24 hours	Stable and severely unstable neonates were excluded. Triplets, major congenital malformations, severe jaundice, seizures, and lack of study bed were the other exclusion criteria	KMC initiated <24 hours after admission; Median initiation time 13.6 hours	KMC once stable at >24 hours after admission; Median initiation time 104.5 hours
3	Mörelius 201524	Vaginally born singleton preterm infants (32–35 weeks’ gestation)	Infants with congenital malformations and severely unstable infants	Continuous skin-to-skin contact, beginning in the delivery room; Median initiation time not provided	KMC began in the NICU; On day 2, both groups were practicing KMC
4	Nagai 201025	Birth weight <2500 g, age <24 hours, no serious malformations, and relatively stable clinical condition	Apnea and intravenous infusion	KMC begun soon as possible, within 24 hours post-birth; Median initiation time 19 hours (IQR 13.00–23.00)	KMC began after complete stabilisation (generally after 24 hours post-birth) Median initiation time 28.5 hours (IQR 25–40)

KMC, Kangaroo mother care; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit.