THE EFFECT OF KANGAROO COUNSELLING CARE METHOD TOWARDS ANTHROPOMETRY OF LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT

<strong><em>Objective</em></strong><strong><em>: </em></strong><em>The result of population inter-census survey in 2015 revealed that Infants Mortality Rate reached 22.23 per 1000 of live birth, and one of its causes in Indonesia is BBLR by 10.2%. Moreover, the case of BBLR in Hospital </em><em>Patut Patuh Patju</em> <em>of West Lombok Regency in 2017 was 16.25% slightly decreased than in 2016 by 17.11%. One of the BBLR’s care efforts which is proven simple, cheap, and highly recommended is Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC). </em><strong><em> </em></strong><em>This study aimed at finding out the effect of Kangaroo Counselling Care Method towards the increase of baby’s body length for low birth weight at Hospital </em><em>Patut Patuh Patju</em><em> of </em><em>West Lombok Regency</em><em>.  </em> <strong><em>Method</em></strong><strong><em>: </em></strong><em>This study used </em><em>Quasi Experimental</em> <em>under </em><em>Nonequivalent Control Group Design</em><em> with 34 babies as sample who were divided into two groups; intervention group consisted of 19 babies treated through counselling, and Kangaroo Care Method, meanwhile, the control group was 15 babies treated through everyday Baby Care.  </em> <strong><em>Result</em></strong><strong><em>:</em></strong> <em>The increase of babies’ body length in intervention group was 1.29 cm. Meanwhile, the control group was 1.01 cm per 2 weeks. The result of statistical test using Mann Whitney was </em><em>p = 0,005</em><em>. </em> <strong><em>Conclusion</em></strong><strong><em>:</em></strong> <em>There is an effect of Kangaroo Counselling Care Method towards the increase of babies’ body length for low birth weight at Hospital </em><em>Patut Patuh Patju</em><em> of </em><em>West Lombok Regency</em><em>.   </em>