Dr. Humberto Rey Vargas

A pilot study describe the effectivity of the mother- newborn skin to skin contavt method in the caloric management of the respiratory transitorial adjustment after birth. The reseach was done with 14 premature babies in the Hospital Universitario del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

The selection criteria were: 32 to 36 weeks of gestation, weight of 1500grams or more, Apgar7 or more in the 5^th minute, and signs of transitory distress any other known associated pathology.

Inmediately after birt, the premature infants were put in prone position on the naked breasts of their respective mothers. The infants heads were covered with a cap and his body was protected with a blanket folded four times, to minimize heat loss.

Mother and neonates vital signs body temperature, heart rate, respiratory, trancutaneos oxyggen capillary saturation were monotorized minute during six hours. After this time, twelve infants wenrt theirs mothers to the puerperal room without respiratory distress receiiving rutinary care and leaving the hospital few hours later. The other two infants requiered oxygen supplement for more than six hours and were transfered to ICU. From there they were discharged home in the next twenty four hours after improvement of their clinical picture we think that the mother is a wonderful loving- incubator that should be researched further in order to recommend it as the initial treatment of choice or neonatal early adaptation respiratory sympions the main issue that needs to be resolve for it is how to make a differential diagnosis of the hyaline membrane disease sympioms and the transient symptoms of the poor adaptation of the neonate to the extrauterine life.