more about kangaroo care
I wanted to share a little bit more about kangaroo care for those who don’t know anything about it. It’s pretty neat stuff!
Kangaroo care involves placing the baby in skin-to-skin contact with the parent (most research has been done on kangaroo care with mom, but dads can do it, too). Baby wears only a diaper and maybe a hat, and is placed on his stomach on mom’s stomach, with his head sideways between her breasts so he can hear her heartbeat. They then get wrapped together to keep baby’s outside warm.
Kangaroo care “originated” (I know, it’s more like “back to what we used to do”) in Bogota, Columbia in 1983 when some doctors tried it because they simply didn’t have enough equipment, beds, whatever, to keep babies warm. They had moms hold babies in kangaroo position pretty much non-stop as a kind of emergency measure, and discovered that infant mortality dropped very significantly and the babies were able to go home dramatically faster! It has since been adopted by many NICUs in the US and elsewhere, and studies have been done that mostly support these amazing results.
In some ways, it seems self-evident that having mom and baby together would be good for baby, but the cool thing is the specifics of why it’s good, and how that goes against some basic preemie care rules (like, reducing movement and transfers of baby as much as possible because those cause baby to work much harder to stay stable). Here are some of the things that happen with kangaroo care:
- temperature synchrony: mom and baby regulate each other’s temperature. When baby gets cold, mom’s chest temperature goes up to compensate. Apparently it works in reverse, too, though I imagine mom can do a pretty good job of regulating her own temperature.
- improved breastfeeding: the close contact increases mom’s milk letdown and babies are much more likely to begin breastfeeding spontaneously.
- respiration and heart rate improvements: doctors, nurses and parents have noticed decreased apnea episodes, decrease in ventilator oxygen requirements, decrease in brachycardia episodes, and a more stable heart rate.
- more restful sleep: we can all relate to the importance of that one!
- more rapid weight gain: possibly because of the more restful sleep, which allows conservation of calories
- faster discharge: many babies are discharged significantly faster
- parents benefit, too: the NICU can feel like a very powerless place for many parents, and kangaroo care allows parents to take a very important role in the care of their baby. Plus, obviously, you get to hold your baby!
Just so you know, I’ve gotten most of this information off the internet. It’s probably not all exactly right, but I think it’s not too far off, either. Here are some sites that talk about it if you want to read more:
Pretty nifty, huh?
-Maria
Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Greetings to all of you, especially Kara, Ronan, and Nolan. My mom, anne scaff, just forwarded me the blog today and i’ve read through it all… I too just had a baby boy, isaiah, a few months ago, so my heart goes out to you knowing deeply that intense, heart huge place you guys are in. Nolan looks so happy on your chest Kara, just where he’s supposed to be. I will be holding you all in the light of life and love and wish you all the best. Patricia
Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Thanks, Maria, for creating this wonderful website! Kara looks radiant. I’m sure it’s brought joyful tears to so many to be able to see that photo. Also fascinating to learn more about Kangaroo care. It just looks so right.
Love to all,
Cathy
Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Maria - You are so wonderful for doing this - What a beautiful sister you are and Auntie!!! This is a huge gift to all of us who love Kara, Ronan, Nolan and your whole family! And truly the pictures are amazing, inspiring - so beautiful and so moving. Thank you so much. Love Heather
Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 9:05 pm
I just filtered through all the photos on the site….thank you, thank you for sharing. Shannon has given me daily updates, but my heart feels gratitude to see this little one with his radiant mama and papa….
-amy
Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Ahhh……..
Friday, September 22, 2006 at 3:55 pm
Hey guys! I love the kangaroo pictures! How happy little Nolan (and Kara!) must be to be together. I hope we’ll see some photos of Ronan as Mr. Kangaroo, too. Love, Bernie