Science-backed snuggles: Kangaroo Care Day celebrated in USA Health’s level III neonatal intensive care unit
The name comes from the way a kangaroo cradles its young in a pouch after birth. Just as a baby joey benefits from staying close to its mother in a warm spot, human infants can also benefit from skin-to-skin contact with their parents.
By Casandra Andrews
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If giving or receiving a hug can make kids and adults feel better, imagine what they can do for babies who endure extended hospital stays. Research shows that snuggling with an infant – also known as skin-to-skin contact – offers a variety of positive health impacts for parents and infants.
To recognize the importance of the parental bonding technique known as skin-to-skin contact, families with infants in the level III neonatal intensive care unit at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital spent time purposefully cuddling with their babies during International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day, held on May 15.
The name comes from the way a kangaroo cradles its young in a pouch after birth. And just as a baby joey benefits from staying close to its mother in a warm spot, human infants can also benefit from skin-to-skin contact with their parents.
Research shows the benefits of kangaroo care for babies include a stable heart rate, improved oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate, plus increased milk production for the mother. It also is considered a way to reduce stress for the tiniest patients in the NICU, who often are separated from their parents for extended periods of time.
At the only level III NICU in the region, nurses and other staff from the NICU dressed up in kangaroo suits and posed for photos with many of the families, among other activities.
The NICU at Children’s & Women’s Hospital has a long history of helping the smallest babies thrive. Typically, 1,000 babies a year "graduate" from the neonatal intensive care unit. As part of the region’s only academic health system, specially trained neonatologists and other faculty members help educate the next generation of physicians and other care providers through the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama.
