Episode 26: Practical Parenting - Focus on Touch Part 2 - Kangaroo Care in the NICU
Kangaroo Care in the NICU.
Kangaroo time in the NICU!
I am excited to welcome Kim Walls back to the podcast this week for part 2 of our Focus on Touch in the NICU series. Kim is the founder of BEB Organic and an advocate for the importance of touch in our lives. In our first Practical Parenting Focus on Touch Episode (link here), we discussed why touch is important and laid out the practical tips for parent’s first touches in the NICU. In this episode, we are going to focus on Kangaroo Care, also known as skin-to-skin care, in the NICU.
Benefits of Kangaroo Care for baby:
Improved temperature stability (keep babies warm)
More stability in heart rate and breathing = less apnea and heart rate drops (bradycardia)
Improved weight gain for baby
Babies spend more time in a deep sleep
Improves chances of successful breastfeeding
Benefits of Kangaroo Care for Mama:
Improves milk supply
Excellent bonding time
Reduces maternal/paternal stress and improves parent’s confidence in their ability to care for their infant
Practical Tips for Kangaroo Care in the NICU:
Discuss skin-to-skin (Kangaroo) care on rounds. This helps ensure the whole team (MD, nurse, parents) are on the same page. There is nothing worse than mixed messages around holding when you are prepared to be able to hold your baby, and then someone says no.
Plan it with your baby’s nurse. Let them know when you will be at the unit.
Avoid strong artificial scents, like perfume and body wash.
Dads - don’t shave
For moms, Kangaroo care can help increase your supply, so make sure you pump before you do your skin to skin time, or have a supportive bra with nursing pads in place.
You do not need any special clothing to be able to do Kangaroo Care. Having a stretchy shirt or a button-up shirt. You can also wear a hospital gown and put a blanket over the top of you and your baby.
Hello bright eyes!
At the end of the episode, I ask for some book recommendations; books that were particularly helpful to Kim either in her parenting or in her life. These were her recommendations:
The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Wild Ideas Mighty Enough to Dent the World by Nilofer Merchant
A series from the Gesell Institute, authored by Louise Ames and Carol Chase Haber, which starts with “Your One-Year-Old: The Fun-Loving, Fussy 12 to 24-month old” and continues through “Your Ten- to Fourteen-Year-Old”. These books help parents recognize what is developmentally appropriate at each and every year.