Kangaroo Care
For Both Premature and Full Term Babies.

Kangaroo Mother Care & How To:

For comfort, your newborn will have a diaper on, have a little blanket at the ready then place your little one on to your bare chest with baby’s head turned to the side (ear to chest). Then put the blanket over his/her back. Both mom and dad can do this and at the same time with twins.

Regarding Premature Babies…
It will depend on how stable your little one(s) are whether or not the NICU staff will allow this and how long you can do this for. Basically the more skin to skin you get the better, ensuring physiological and psychological benefits.If you are unable to hold your baby then you may be able to touch their little hand or foot. This sort of touch is also important.

What are the Benefits?

Physical Benefits for Babies

Babies stabilize faster than in an incubator especially in the first six hours of life, including:

• Oxygen rates and breathing
• Heart rate
• Body temperature

With skin to skin care the mother’s chest automatically warms a cold baby. The amazing thing is if the baby has a temperature the mother’s core will drop to adjust to this. Only mommies can do this.

Research has also said it improves babies sleep patterns and can help with colic issues due to less crying.

Breastfeeding Benefits

• The production of breast milk is stimulated due to skin to skin with your baby.
• A baby’s instinct is to get to your breast for a feed, they call this a breast crawl. Newborns can make it to the breast in as little as 15 minutes but it can usually take about an hour. Some babies need a little help with this.
• There are less breastfeeding issues. Also newborns that have had kangaroo care can gain weight more rapidly, this means less time in the NICU if they are preemie.
• Also there are less long term health problems with babies who’ve had skin to skin care.

Baby Development

• Skin to skin care means less crying so babies are less stressed.
• A bond is established earlier between parent and infant, which benefits long term emotional stability. This bond relates to bonding and relationships in the future.
• Can help maintain physiological stability.

Benefits for Mom

• Skin to skin contact releases oxytocin which helps with breast milk production while having a calming effect on mom.
• Has a hand in contracting the uterus back to size, this can limit blood loss.
• Sleep synchrony is a rhythm from mom and baby sleeping and waking together. Mom‘s (and babies) can get more sleep this way.
• With premature babies this can also give a mother comfort. It’s like she is completing the gestation of her infant.
• Another thing is the likely hood of postpartum depression is lessened.

What Is It And Why We Do It

Described as “The Hug that Helped Change Medicine” this beautiful story about preemie twins and their survival. This story helped with the realization that skin to skin contact is truly healing.