In 1994, the Kangaroo Foundation, a Colombian non-profit institution, was created by a group of professionals with the interest of evaluating and disseminating Colombian KMC in a scientific manner both for Colombia and the world. The first research conducted was a cohort study whose results were published in 1994 in the journal Pediatrics; this study showed that KMC had a similar effectiveness to traditional incubator management of LBW infants in Colombia. Subsequently, to prove the effectiveness and safety of KMC, the Kangaroo Foundation conducted the first randomized clinical trial on this intervention (EAC) between 1993 and 1996, finding positive results in the short, medium and long term in terms of survival, breastfeeding, quality of the mother-baby bond and neurodevelopment at one year of corrected age; these results were also published in indexed journals.

Since then, the Kangaroo Foundation has continued to develop clinical research to improve different aspects of KMC such as kangaroo nutrition, neurological follow-up and outcomes, KMC and brain development through imaging studies, outpatient management of oxygen-dependent infants, as well as installing a biannual KMC quality monitoring of data from 3 centers of excellence in KMC in Bogotá and Medellín, in which the Kangaroo Foundation collaborates. These centers receive preterm or LBW patients from all socioeconomic levels, which allows the Kangaroo Foundation to truly evaluate the impact of KMC on the health of these fragile infants. follow the same protocols and technical guidelines for the Implementation of Kangaroo Mother Care Programs (KMCP) in Colombia, published by the Ministry of Health in 2017. In Colombia, there are 66 KMCP that follow these technical kangaroo guidelines and perform high-risk follow-up up to one year of age. In a national study organized by the Kangaroo Foundation in 2022 we found only a 63.2% access for all the preterm and low birth weight babies. There is no audit of the quality of the KMC implemented or analysis of the indicators at national, city or regional level.