Father And Son Help Incubate Preemie Twins With Skin-To-Skin Contact

When babies are born prematurely, they are not fully finished developing and are usually put into an incubator. They’re hooked up to machines, and though their parents are present whenever possible, the babies don’t get to feel other humans as much as babies born to term. We are social animals, us humans. We need to be touched and caressed and held to develop properly. This is not just so you don’t develop into a jerk; this is for survival. Babies who are abandoned can die out of loneliness. Babies can literally die if they’re not touched, even if they’re fed.

Doctors are giving human touch more credit than ever. Recently, skin-to-skin contact got a lot of attention on the internet when NINO Birth translated and shared Forældre og Fødsel’s post

Finally, Some Props To Nature

It seems like the medical community is a bit hesitant with using nature to its full potential, which is why this post is so important. Though we’ve always known touch is healthy, doctors are finding it’s more powerful than they ever imagined. The post discusses the exciting research happening in Europe right now:

“Revolutionary and innovative practices in Uppsala, Sweden. Children of 700 grams can be skin to skin on the parent’s chest instead of the incubator.”

A Swedish Professor [named] Uwe Ewald…

“…came to Hvidovre hospital (Denmark) to talk about his revolutionary practice, where even very small premature babies are taken out of the incubator to be skin to skin with their parents as much as possible.

“Premature babies, born three months prematurely, are put on the parent’s chest instead of alone in an incubator.

“Uwe Ewald points out that the parent’s chest regulates the temperature better than an incubator.

“Skin to skin contact helps the baby to breathe better. The child becomes more calm and gains weight faster. Research shows that parents bacterial flora – compared with hospital bacteria – reduces the risk of serious infections in these delicate children.”

“Skin to Skin Contact is not ‘new’…

“…but Sweden certainly leads the way in making this care family -friendly even for very tiny babies.

“I love this picture of big brother helping his dad care for the twins!!”

It’s Also Called “Kangaroo Care”

In the U.S., pediatricians are also calling skin-to-skin contact/incubation “kangaroo care” because kangaroos carry their babies in a pouch where the joey gets constant physical contact all the time.