HOW BABIES’ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IS SHAPED BY TOUCH
For newborns, skin-to-skin contact with parents and caregivers helps shape how their brains respond to touch, a sense necessary for social and emotional connections. A lot of previous research has linked skin-to-skin touch with developmental benefits for both premature and full-term babies, ranging from improved growth and sleep to better motor development. Research has also […]
STRESSED INFANTS FEEL, BUT DON’T SHOW, MORE PAIN
Stressed infants have increased pain brain activity, but this stress was not linked with their behavior, researchers found. Infants with high levels of stress exhibited larger “amplitude cortical nociceptor responses”, or responses to pain, but it was not correlated with “nociceptive behavior,” or behavior exhibiting pain, as measured by brain activity and facial expressions, reported […]
INFANTS PROCESS PAIN IN THEIR BRAINS IN DIFFERENT WAYS BASED ON AGE
Relying on behavioral indicators, such as crying, to assess pain in infants underestimates how much pain babies actually feel when they undergo stressful medical procedures. This has long-term implications on brain development and impacts future adult pain sensitivity, according to a British neurobiologist speaking at the American Pain Society Scientific Summit. “Infants respond to noxious […]
A PRESCRIPTION FOR TOUCH: EARLY EXPERIENCES SHAPE PRETERM BABIES’ BRAINS
Newborn babies experience the world through touch. Now, researchers who have measured the brain responses of 125 infants—including babies who were born prematurely and others who went full-term—show that a baby’s earliest experiences of touch have lasting effects on the way their young brains respond to gentle touch when they go home. The findings reported […]
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 […]
CAN BABIES BE SPOILED WITH LOVE AND ATTENTION?
Research can help us understand why traditional practices are so important. Knowing why, we are less quick to cast adrift customs that can deeply enrich our lives. Nearly every new parent hears the admonition, “Don’t spoil the baby!” at one time or another in the early months of parenting. Our concern about raising “spoiled” […]
BABIES’ BRAINS TO BE MAPPED IN THE WOMB AND AFTER BIRTH
UK scientists have embarked on a six-year project to map how nerve connections develop in babies’ brains while still in the womb and after birth. By the time a baby takes its first breath many of the key pathways between nerves have already been made, and some of these will help determine how a baby […]
Premature Babies in NICUs at Risk from Tobacco Toxins Brought in on the Clothes and Skin
A new study warns that premature babies in intensive care are being exposed to harmful toxins from tobacco brought in on the clothes and skin of smokers. In spite of being in clean and sterile rooms, vulnerable newborns in incubators are still being exposed to thirdhand smoke residue linked to heart and lung diseases. These […]
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 […]
WORLD PREMATURE BABY DAY—NOVEMBER 17
Premature Babies Need a Special Kind of Touch We know how important it is to hold our babies close, right from the start. We put a lot of planning into those first few hours and weeks, arranging to avoid the interruptions that would unnecessarily deprive our babies of those precious moments of bonding time. When […]