Kangaroo Care Log
The time your infant spends in the NICU is very overwhelming. You will often feel powerless and full of uncertainty. As a parent, research has shown one proven way you can help your baby and yourself is by doing daily kangaroo.
We focused two of our podcasts on our Empowering NICU Parents Podcast to kangaroo care. In Episode 14 – Kangaroo Care in the NICU: How does it benefit the infant and parents?, I discussed the numerous ways kangaroo care is beneficial to every infant, but especially infants in the NICU. I also reviewed the multiple benefits for the parents and family unit as a whole as well. For Episode 15, Kangaroo Care in the NICU: How to address the barriers, assess for readiness, and transfer the infant safely focused more on the common barriers that inhibit parents from doing daily kangaroo care as well as ways to try and minimize the obstacles. I also discuss how the NICU care team will assess for readiness of kangaroo care and the few common limitations that may delay kangaroo care due to the infant’s clinical condition. Finally, I review the step-by-step guide for kangaroo care including transfer methods and review how you can even pump while doing kangaroo care. Click below for a great video that shows how to perform the standing transfer method.
If your baby’s NICU has not mentioned kangaroo care please inquire about it. The benefits of kangaroo care are endless and not just for the baby! Kangaroo care has shown benefits for homeostasis for preterm infants including maintaining a healthy body temperature and increased cardiorespiratory stabilization. A recent study showed that even a very small amount of kangaroo care as minimal as 1 hour a day for 14 days with preterm infants compared to infants who remained in an isolette, was associated with improved fetal and maternal outcomes 10 years later.
Studies have also shown that mothers who did kangaroo care with their infants had greater mother-infant attachment scores across the post-partum period and improved responsiveness and reciprocity at 10 years. Maternal stress scores have also been found to be lower.
Skin-to-skin care promotes participation of both parents in caring for the infant, it strengthens the family role in caring for a fragile infant, and decreases the common feelings of helplessness. That is huge! Kangaroo care actually helps parents feel like parents! Research has also shown that mothers and fathers in a skin-to-skin care rich-environment were found to be more sensitive, less intrusive, had more affectionate touch of their infant and spouse, and the family style was overall more cohesive. And most importantly, kangaroo care helps the parents become more comfortable with their infant and more confident! It actually allows parents to nurture and care for their fragile infant.
To help you cherish each time you are able to hold your baby skin-to-skin, we developed a log. The log allows you to document your feelings each time you were able to do kangaroo care and how your baby responded. It will be a great reminder each day your baby is in the NICU and even after years have passed. You will be amazed at how well your infant begins to adjust and the noticeable improvements they make each day with all of the kangaroo care you are providing!
