Kangaroo holding, or skin-to-skin holding, involves placing a diaper clad infant vertical and prone between a mother's breasts (Affonso, 1993). As evidenced by the literature, stress can have an altering effect on the maternal attachment role psychologically and place physical demands on the cardiovascular system. Kangaroo care is one variable that may change the perception of maternal stress during preterm hospitalization by assisting mothers to gain control of the parental role, permitting maternal bonding and reducing maternal separation as well as potentially decreasing the allostatic load as associated with physiologic stress.