NICU – Kangaroo Care / Skin to Skin Touch

“Research show that kangaroo care provides substantial benefit for babies.

Medical benefits of skin-to-skin touch for preemies were discovered by chance in the early 1980s by two neonatologists in Bogota, Colombia. Their hospitals couldn’t afford enough modern high-tech incubators for premature babies, so they used the babies’ mothers to hold and warm the babies. The baby was placed skin to skin on Mother’s chest, between her breasts. A cloth wrapped around Mother’s body held baby there.*”

I read the importance of the kangaroo care and I started to be very insistent with the doctors. I don’t know where my confidence came from but somehow, I knew if I held her, it would just be better for both of us.

I was very impatient to hold her for the first time. I needed to hold her so much to finally feel some physical connection. Doctors were tired of me constantly asking “when am I going to hold her?”

Until day 18, D. was not allowed to go out of the incubator though. It was just not safe enough for her to be out of the incubator, which was set at an ideal humidity and temperature levels.

The only connection we had was our hands getting together using the small windows of the incubator. Once, we exceeded the time we were given by the nurses and windows left open longer than should be. Her body temperature went down and we were asked to close the windows immediately. Guilt we felt was beyond measure. Nurses told us it was nothing to worry about but we, as her parents, let her get cold just to hold her for a couple more minutes.

On day 18, D.’s body temperature became a little bit more stable and doctor said “let’s give it a shot and make this mommy happy” 😊 He made my day.

First time she was out of the incubator, there was bonus: all sorts of cables attached to her body. What if the cables came out? One of them was connected to oxygen. What if she became breathless? Would she feel cold? My body gets cold when I am nervous. What if she cried? Would they take her away from me if she cried? What if I hurt her? She was so tiny. What if the monitor started beeping? Would my milk production increase post kangaroo care? So I hoped. Would she know me as her mother? I guess not yet☹ Would she feel comfortable? Would the nurses let me hold her long enough? Would I want to put her back in the incubator? Of course not!

All the concerns, questions disappeared after holding her for a minute. I am not really a carpe diem person. I became one at this very special moment. I held D. tight, listened to her breathe, felt her tiny warm body, apologized to her for what she is going through, promised her that it would all be better when she came home. I talked to her about our family, our home. I sang to her, I whispered in her ear that I loved her.

From the 18th day onward, my husband and I held her everyday. There were days, her vitals would change as she was coming out of the incubator. Then they would stabilize only after a few minutes of holding her.

We felt she was also looking forward to us holding her. One day we were five minutes late to NICU. The minute we stepped in, her vitals changed instantly. We found out later her vitals were stable all day long. She was obviously giving us an attitude. We loved it!

Kangaroo care became popular and most NICUs support and encourage parents to practice it. If you feel you are not given the opportunity, it is important to ask and understand why. No baby, no mother, no father should miss out of this chance to bond.

* Premature Baby Book, Kangaroo Care