Infants undergoing cardiac cath are at risk for complications due to cardiac instability in the post cath period. Current pediatric practice is based on adult standards of care. An established intervention called kangaroo care (KC) skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her infant is known to increase cardio respiratory stability and may be useful for infants post cath. The purposes of the proposed study are to determine l) the nature of cardio respiratory and behavioral effects of KC following cardiac catheterization and 2) the efficacy of KC by examining its? effect on cardio respiratory stabilization during the post cath period. Infants admitted for cardiac catheterization will be placed into one of two groups; one group will receive KC for five hours in the post cath period and the other group will receive the standard care of bed rest. A randomized control pretest-posttest design will be used that controls for all threats to internal validity. Baseline data will be collected from each group on heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and cardiac output. ABSSS will be used for behavioral state. Student t test will be used to compare post cath means between groups.
