Kangaroo care, nurturing premature babies through skin-to-skin contact

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August 13, 2024

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Kangaroo care, nurturing premature babies through skin-to-skin contact
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Kangaroo care, nurturing premature babies through skin-to-skin contact

Premature babies are often rushed to a neonatology unit for care. This can be stressful for both the premature babies and the parents. The WHO now recommends using the “kangaroo method” immediately after birth, without prior incubation. The skin-to-skin contact is said to not only improve the bond between parents and child, but also promotes breastfeeding and brain development. It also reduces the risk of hypothermia and infection.

What is kangaroo care?

The kangaroo method involves skin-to-skin contact between the premature baby and one of the parents as soon as possible. Babies are placed against the bare chest of their mother or father so that they can feel the warmth and heartbeat of their parent.

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This method was developed about thirty years ago in Colombia, in a maternity hospital in Bogotá where there were not enough incubators to care for all the premature babies. To fill this shortage, a pediatrician experimented with this technique, with success.

Also read: Feeding a premature baby using the 'cue based feeding' method

How does the kangaroo method work?

The parent lies down in a comfortable position with the shirt off. The naked baby is placed on the chest of the parent and both are then covered with a blanket. The temperature of the parent is sufficient to keep the baby warm. The duration may vary, but in general a session lasts one to three hours. The decision to place the baby back in the incubator depends on the stability of the baby, the comfort of the parent and the opinion of the nurse. Parents are asked to wash their hands with a neutral soap and not to wear perfume (it irritates the baby).

Benefits of skin to skin contact

The kangaroo method not only increases the survival chances of premature babies, but also has a number of significant advantages:

It improves thermoregulation in premature babies: Skin-to-skin contact helps premature babies regulate and maintain their body temperature.
It stabilizes the baby's heart rate and breathing: the parent's heart rate can stimulate the baby's heart rate and breathing.
It improves sleep: Babies who benefit from the kangaroo method have longer periods of restful sleep and alert wakefulness, shorter periods of active sleep, and a more organized sleep-wake cycle than others. They are also more responsive and less grumpy.
It reduces the sensation of pain in premature babies: Kangaroo care stimulates the baby's senses. They hear their mother's heartbeat, receive her warmth… These sensory stimuli have been shown to reduce the baby's perception of pain.
It strengthens the bond between parent and child: thanks to the kangaroo method, parents can feel connected to their baby, despite the medical conditions. Thanks to this contact, mothers and fathers gain more confidence and are better able to recognize their baby's signals. For babies, the practice reduces stress and increases their sense of security.
It encourages breastfeeding: Skin-to-skin contact can make breastfeeding easier by encouraging the baby to seek out and feed at the breast. Breastfeeding lasts longer and produces more milk.

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Also read: Premature baby's breathing should be stimulated rather than taken over

Benefits for the brain development of premature babies

In collaboration with Colombian colleagues, researchers from the University of Laval (Quebec) have shown that very premature babies who have benefited from this method show, in adolescence (around age 15), cerebral development comparable to that of children born at due age, and superior to babies kept in incubators.

As neurophysiologist Cyril Schneider explains: “Thanks to the kangaroo method, the child receives nervous stimulation – the sound of the heart, the voice and warmth of the parent… – during a critical period in the development of neuronal connections. This promotes the immediate and future development of the brain”. In fact, this method reproduces the natural conditions of the intrauterine environment in which the child would develop if it had not been born prematurely”.

Also read: Stridor: Why do premature babies breathe so loudly?

Sources:

Last updated: December 2023

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