WHY SKIN-TO-SKIN CONTACT WITH INFANTS IS BETTER FOR EVERYONE
Carmela Torres was 18 when she became pregnant for the first time. It was 1987 and she and her now-husband, Pablo Hernandez, were two idealistic young Colombians born in the coastal region of Montería who moved to the capital, Bogotá, in search of freedom and a better life. When Torres told her father she was […]
Kangaroo Care Benefits Preemies — Results 20 Years Later
A new study reveals that skin-to-skin are brings both immediate and longterm benefits for preemies compared to those who receive traditional incubator care alone. With Kangaroo Care, a premature baby is held against parents’ chest, skin-to-skin, as soon as possible after birth and for a prolonged period of time. This is extremely beneficial for newborns […]
Skin-to-Skin Kangaroo Care Reduces Up to 36% Infant Deaths
Research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital says that skin-to-skin contact can reduce deaths for infants with low birth weight. Low birth weight infants are particularly vulnerable during their first month of life so the researchers encourage skin-to-skin contact, also known as Kangaroo Care, especially in developing countries […]
Skin-to-Skin Contact With Infant in the Neonatal Unit Decreases Maternal Stress Levels
Research shows that stable parent-infant bonds are fundamental to healthy child development. For parents of babies born prematurely or with special medical needs, this early bonding can be interrupted by the complex medical care required in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, an ongoing study conducted at a large metropolitan NICU shows that a […]
Loving Touch is Essential for Premature Infants
A new study in Biological Psychiatry reports that the benefit that premature infants gain from skin-to-skin contact with their mothers is measurable even 10 years after birth Physical contact with babies is crucial for their physical and psychological development. This lesson has been learned the hard way, as infants neglected in hospitals and orphanages developed […]