Dear Dr. Debbie,
I’m expecting my first baby in a few months and have heard people talking about “Kangaroo Care” for newborns. Supposedly it’s great for everything from strengthening the immune system to helping with brain development. What’s this all about?
Gotta Getta Pouch
Dear G.G.P.,
Named for the animal that has a pouch built into her abdomen to hold her baby for nearly a year, with return visits for nursing for up to 18 months, Kangaroo Care is a natural way to ease a human baby into the outside world and promote bonding as a family.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Florida describes Kangaroo Care as skin-to-skin contact between newborn and parents. This involves holding the new baby on a parent’s bare chest, particularly during the first hour after birth. Research on prematurely born babies shows valuable benefits from continued skin-to-skin holding that help to ready them for release from the hospital sooner than if they didn’t get this special care from their parents.
How To
The newborn can wear a diaper and a hat with a lightweight blanket over the back and legs for more warmth. Lay the baby’s ear on the parent’s chest to hear your heartbeat – a familiar sound! Your voice, at a very low volume, is also well-known and therefore reassuring.
If possible, check ahead of time to see if your hospital or birthing center will allow an hour of Kangaroo Care following the birth, and if not, start negotiating with your care provider to support you in this when the time comes.
Beyond the first day or weeks, being physically close is part of Attachment Parenting. The Kobor Lab at British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute reports that starting out and continuing with physical closeness is associated with biochemical changes in a child that can be seen as young as three months of age. “The simple act of holding infants early in life may associate with deeply-rooted and potentially lifelong patterns” affecting a child’s “immune system and cognitive development”. So there’s your evidence. Yes, it boosts health and brain power. But wait, there’s more.
Ongoing research at the Kobor Lab confirms that the quality of a parent-child bond can be seen in classic studies of attachment in toddlers. In a securely attached child, when a parent leaves the room and returns there’s a happy, yet calm, reunion between them. On the other hand, a child with an insecure attachment, who assumedly was not made to feel secure with lots of parental holding, is anxious or aloof, or just discombobulated, when the parent returns.
Hold Me
Reasons for holding a baby from the first day of life and beyond should be obvious to all. This is what the baby wants! Babies who are held more cry less. This was observed by Peace Corps volunteer, Ann Moore, inventor of the Snugli, back when she was working as a nurse in Togo in 1962. Mothers there used cloth slings to hold their babies close as they went about their daily activities. Moore noted, “There was very little crying.” Back at home in the states, she and her mother sewed together a sling for her own newborn that prompted requests from her friends. When the patented product took off, Columbia University did a study on its use and found that Snugli-carried babies “exhibited longer eye contact, better language skills, and more emotional security. Low-birth-weight babies also gained weight faster.”
Proponents of starting a newborn’s life with at least an hour of Kangaroo Care, including Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, point to initial benefits including:
Better temperature regulation
More stable breathing and heart rates
More success with getting breastfeeding started
Less crying
Better sleep
And long-term benefits:
Improved immunity
Optimal neuro-sensory input for the developing brain
Enhanced parent-infant attachment
Increased confidence and competence in the parents
Increased sensitivity and responsiveness of the parents to the infant
Necessity Was the Mother of Invention
The origins of the practice of Kangaroo Care are in Bogotá, Colombia at an ill-equipped hospital in the mid-1970’s. Doctors Edgar Rey Sanabria and Héctor Martínez were faced with more tiny pre-term babies than they had incubators to put them in. Out of desperation, the mothers were told to tuck the babies under their clothing to keep them warm. Amazingly, they found that “babies stabilized, gained weight, and formed critical emotional bonds with their caregivers.”
By the way, Kangaroo Care is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the March of Dimes, the World Health Organization, and a growing number of hospitals across the US.
Who could argue with something that gets every baby off to a great start?!?
Dr. Debbie
Write your question to Dr. Debbie! Please include age(s) of your child(ren) and other details about the situation or concern.
Deborah Wood, Ph.D. is a child development specialist and founding director of Chesapeake Children’s Museum, located at 25 Silopanna Road in Annapolis.
CCM is open from 10 am to 4 pm daily, including December 25th and January 1st. Online reservations are available or call: 410-990-1993. Walk-ins are welcome. Art and Story Time with Mrs. Spears and Puppy the Puppet is on Mondays at 10:30 am. There is a Nature Walk on Thursdays at 10:30 am. Do you have a child 5 to 17-years-old who belongs on stage? My Musical Theater Winter Camp runs from December 29 through January 2 with a performance at the Busch Library on the last day. On December 31st we count down to Noon Year’s Eve with multicultural traditions including making noisemakers, crowns, and festive hats.
