Imagine a world where, as a mother, one could possibly save the life of their premature newborn, just by holding them. Premature birth usually occurs within more than 3 weeks before the scheduled birth date, for example while a normal pregnancy will last about 40 weeks, a premature birth would happen at 37 weeks or earlier and occurs in 1 in every 10 births (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). Skin-to-skin contact, also known as Kangaroo Care, is proven to have positive effects on babies born prematurely and their mothers and can even show major health improvements in babies close to death. Kangaroo care is “holding your diapered baby on your bare chest (if you 're the father) or between your breasts (if you 're the mother)”
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Not only can it provide benefits for the mother and child but it can also provide benefits to the father. While the mother and child will experience both physiological and emotional benefits the father will experience only the emotional benefit that is critical to their role as a parent. The mother will experience benefits including an increase in production of breast milk, lower stress levels, and an increase in confidence as a parent paired with an intimate bond with their newborn while the baby will be warmer, more rested and relaxed, more likely to gain weight, and will also be more likely to breastfeed than other infants (March of Dimes, 2014). The father in this case may only experience the increase in confidence and will be able to form that intimate and emotional bond but may also feel a decrease in stress levels while holding their baby. A study conducted showed that premature babies in the Kangaroo Care group(n=38), as much as 88%, showed less crying and grimacing during repeated painful procedures, namely heel sticks, while 40% of babies in the control group (n=37) that were kept in an incubator showed less crying and grimacing. This study proves that there is an improvement in pain and crying levels in babies using Kangaroo Care, along with the many other benefits that accompany …show more content…
Along with the other benefits, Mothers with predispositions are also less likely to experience postpartum depression at the rate that they normally would have had they not use Kangaroo Care in the first few months after their child was born. Despite these benefits, there are many factors that would prevent the use of Kangaroo Care in hospitals, such as stress levels for parents and nurses, hospital staff’s beliefs, and physical or physiological complications that may prevent the use of Kangaroo Care more continuously. Finally, there is a conflict of opinions on Kangaroo Care use from nurses as it pertains to their patient, some feel that it is too much pressure for the patient to continuously use Kangaroo care while other nurses encourage its use right from birth. The importance of this topic cannot be stressed enough for nurses to be educated on and to provide their knowledge of this topic to their patients as it can be proved to have immense benefits for the mother, the father, and especially the baby.
Not only can it provide benefits for the mother and child but it can also provide benefits to the father. While the mother and child will experience both physiological and emotional benefits the father will experience only the emotional benefit that is critical to their role as a parent. The mother will experience benefits including an increase in production of breast milk, lower stress levels, and an increase in confidence as a parent paired with an intimate bond with their newborn while the baby will be warmer, more rested and relaxed, more likely to gain weight, and will also be more likely to breastfeed than other infants (March of Dimes, 2014). The father in this case may only experience the increase in confidence and will be able to form that intimate and emotional bond but may also feel a decrease in stress levels while holding their baby. A study conducted showed that premature babies in the Kangaroo Care group(n=38), as much as 88%, showed less crying and grimacing during repeated painful procedures, namely heel sticks, while 40% of babies in the control group (n=37) that were kept in an incubator showed less crying and grimacing. This study proves that there is an improvement in pain and crying levels in babies using Kangaroo Care, along with the many other benefits that accompany …show more content…
Along with the other benefits, Mothers with predispositions are also less likely to experience postpartum depression at the rate that they normally would have had they not use Kangaroo Care in the first few months after their child was born. Despite these benefits, there are many factors that would prevent the use of Kangaroo Care in hospitals, such as stress levels for parents and nurses, hospital staff’s beliefs, and physical or physiological complications that may prevent the use of Kangaroo Care more continuously. Finally, there is a conflict of opinions on Kangaroo Care use from nurses as it pertains to their patient, some feel that it is too much pressure for the patient to continuously use Kangaroo care while other nurses encourage its use right from birth. The importance of this topic cannot be stressed enough for nurses to be educated on and to provide their knowledge of this topic to their patients as it can be proved to have immense benefits for the mother, the father, and especially the baby.