The kangaroo method helps premature babies better tolerate pain

More and more research confirms that skin-to-skin contact between mother and premature baby is one of the keys to improving their development in less time.

The kangaroo method promotes that direct contact because the baby is placed in the mother's chest (as if it were a small kangaroo) benefiting him in all aspects. It helps the baby to regulate his temperature, favors the heart rhythm, reduces stress, strengthens intimate contact between mother and child and favors breastfeeding, very important for the mental development of prematurity.

A new study in Montreal published in the journal BioMed Central Pediatrics showed that the Skin-to-skin contact is also effective in reducing pain. in premature babies caused by the medical procedures performed on them.

In intensive care babies are connected to devices, puncture them with needles and are subjected to all kinds of tests, undoubtedly one of the most distressing things for parents.

The experiment consisted of dividing premature babies into two groups. In one, the babies remained in their mothers' chest and in the other, in incubators.

The doctors evaluated the response to the pain of the babies while their heel was punctured through grimaces, pulsations and blood oxygen levels and found that the response to pain was lower in premature babies who were supported by their mothers from 15 minutes before and during the prick.

On the other hand, they verified that the babies of the kangaroo method had recovered from the pain within a minute and a half, while those in the incubator took double, three minutes.

Let's not forget that pain causes added stress to premature babies that have an impact on their recovery, so as far as it can be avoided or minimized, welcome.

Hopefully all these investigations do not fall into a broken sack and contribute to humanizing the care of premature babies. Luckily, given its benefits, the kangaroo method is increasingly extended to more hospitals, but unfortunately there are still many, many, who do not know it or who for various reasons do not implement it.

Video: Neonatal Intensive Care for Premature Baby (March 2024).