May 15 was International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day. At Texas Children’s Newborn Center, our physicians and neonatal nurses are strong believers in the benefits of kangaroo care, which promotes parental bonding with a new baby from the earliest moments of life.
Kangaroo Care is a method of holding babies skin to skin with a parent. The infant wears a diaper and is placed on the parent’s bare chest and covered with a blanket for warmth, much in the same way a kangaroo cares for its baby in the pouch.
The benefits for the infant include improved feeding, temperature stability, stabilized heart rate and respiratory status, improved oxygenation and decreased length of hospitalization. Skin-to-skin contact also improves the bonding between parents and baby, and stimulates breast milk production for new mothers.
Texas Children’s neonatal nurse practitioner and mom Jennifer Gallegos shares her and her husband’s unforgettable bonding experience with their son, Bennett, moments after his birth.
“Kangaroo Care has always been a passion of mine as a bedside nurse and as a nurse practitioner. It took on new meaning when our second child, Bennett, was born at 34 weeks. The time spent with Bennett in skin to skin was memorable, and is treasured by both my husband and I to this day.
The first time my husband, Greg, held Bennett, our son was still on CPAP. For me, it was no big deal, but Greg was terrified of all the “wires and machines.” A little encouragement from Bennett’s nurse persuaded him to try it. The photo to the right is their first of several sessions. Greg became a believer, and he would use their special time to give Bennett “pep talks” on breathing so he could come off the CPAP. While I enjoyed holding Bennett skin to skin, it was just as special watching a father bond with his baby in this way as well.”
To learn more about the benefits of Kangaroo Care at Texas Children’s Newborn Center, click here.