Kangaroo Mother Care: Low Birth Weight Video Baby

Special care and attention must be given to infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) because of their small size and the health complications they face. One particular challenge faced by health care professionals in the NICU is the management of pain for preterm babies. Preterm infants must undergo a wide range of tests, procedures, and, often, life-saving measures during their hospitalizations, which not only subjects them to pain, but pain-related stress and anxiety. This has an impact on the infants themselves, as well as on the family members and friends who are involved in their care (Smith, Steelfisher, Salhi, & Shen, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to examine the problem of pain management among preterm NICU patients and propose the implementation of kangaroo care as a pain management technique.

In 2006 to 2012 the Aboriginal infant mortality rate was eight infant deaths per 1,000 live births, the non-indigenous infant mortality rate of four infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Over the last ten years the aboriginal infant mortality rate has decreased from ten deaths in 2001 to seven deaths in 2010 per 1,000 live births and it continues to decrease. This could be due to better health care facilities and better knowledge of health and hygiene within aboriginal communities.

Due to cesarean section, it is proven that c-section birth causes infants to be at greater risk of developing a host of illnesses such as, asthma, type 1 diabetes, as they progress and grow older; As Australia has one of the highest c-section rates in the world with now at 32% of the population having a cesarean birth (s. McCulloch, 2018). Indigenous mothers are more likely to experience more long-term issues and even perinatal death compared to the 0.7% of non-aboriginal and non-Torres Strait islander mothers (The Department of Health, 2011).

69-70), the first important thing for her is to avoid the consumption of alcohol, smoking, and drugs. She will need to follow a healthy diet that includes folic acid which is “vital to prenatal development” (p.74). Furthermore, she will need to avoid stress, anxiety and keep a stable mental health. There are several effective ways to care for LBW babies, as stated by Boyd, Johnson & Bee (2018), at birth LBW babies might not be able to suck and be breastfed by their mothers and doctors may use intravenous feeding or insert a tube in the esophagus or stomach to help the baby get the nutrients they he/she needs. Parents response to the LBW baby is crucial and may contribute to how fast the baby develops. The Kangaroo care or skin-to-skin is another way to help LBW babies develop by letting parents hold them for long times (pp. 102-103). Women should abstain completely from smoking and drinking throughout the pregnancy, the most critical period is the first

Within every change there are issues that will need to be resolved, and that is why this paper discussed various strategies to overcome those challenges. Kangaroo Mother Care helps improve the health of preterm infants in the NICU, along with their parents. That is why it is crucial to implement the change, and start making a different in these infant’s

The eastern grey kangaroo, named “Doodlebug," was being cared for by Gillian Abbott, Beshara’s mother, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales,

To be successful, the mother should initiate breastfeeding as soon as possible after delivery (Nagtalon-Ramos, 2014). The mother should be taught the many breastfeeding positions by healthcare staff (Nagtalon-Ramos, 2014). These positions are as follows: Cradle hold, cross cradle or transitional hold, clutch or football hold, and the side lying position (Nagtalon-Ramos, 2014). Allowing the infant to consume no other food or drink other than breast milk will help to promote successful breastfeeding (Nagtalon-Ramos, 2014). Furthermore, having the mother and baby together twenty-four hours a day and breastfeeding on demand will assist in successful breastfeeding

mode of action and maternal treatment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(2), 364-379

From this, we infer that the population average birthweight of non-indigenous children is greater than that of indigenous children; meaning that a disadvantage does exist amongst indigenous infants.

Bridging the divided gap between the Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous societies has always been an intense debate across multiply decades no matter the topic at hand. With incredible access to a wide category of health services today, this is not always the case for remotely rural country and outback towns Australia wide, especially childbearing women acquiring antenatal, birthing and postnatal care. This essay will endeavour to explore health outcomes between Indigenous Australian women with non-Indigenous Australian Women and both their newborns, as well as the impact of health policies that remotely remove childbearing women from their rural communities to give birth. While analysing and exploring the concept of “birthing on country” and how this may relate to aiding in closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Women and their newborns, while also considering reflecting on how these topics may impact and reflect my own midwifery practice.

Australia is among the developed countries in the world. The provision of health care services in the country is among the best in the world. Barclay et al. (2014) note that Australia features in the top ten best countries to give birth in. However, despite the impressive health statistics, there remains a wide gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous community. Report by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reveals the rate of childbirth complications among the Aboriginal is twice that of the non-indigenous women (SBS, 2015). This essay seeks to analyze critically this phenomenon that disadvantages the aboriginal people living in remote areas of Australia when accessing maternal health services.

In the documentary called Babies, we are introduced to four different babies, from different parts of the world in separate societies including Japan, The United States, Namibia, and Mongolia. The film documents how each infant is raised in their own culture and society. The beginning of the film depicts medical practices amongst the different cultures. The American and Namibian babies were the two that differed the most. In the Namibian culture there is no medical assistance. The only prenatal care that was seen in the film was when the expecting mother had ground up some red powder and smeared it on her belly, when giving birth there was not much medical

Parents of premature infants are also provided the opportunity to participate in Kangaroo Care – a form of skin-to-skin contact that encourages bonding, interaction and cuddling between parents and small babies. In addition to the emotional and psychological benefits of Kangaroo Care, this technique encourages breastfeeding, helps baby to sleep better and contributes to being released from hospital earlier. At Sharp Mary Birch’s hospital the NICU has a multidisciplinary team which consists of lactation specialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, nurses, nutritionists, occupational and physical therapists, physicians, respiratory care practitioners and social workers. Whether a baby was born prematurely is with other complications, this specialty care unit is a place where babies can grow, heal, and receive the highest quality medical care and attention. The Maternal Infant Services (MIS) Unit at Sharp Mary Birch provides care for women after their delivery of their babies. They monitor the mothers and babies physical recoveries and provide education and practice in caring for the new baby. Sharp Mary Birch has some of the best combination of technology, medical services and the healing arts programs for their patients, which also include cord blood banking. Sharp HealthCare has partnered

2. Harlow found that when given the choice of a cloth-covered and a wire surrogate mother, baby monkeys preferred the cloth mother, even if they were fed by the wire mother. These results show that the needs of hunger and thirst exerted a relatively insignificant influence on the monkey’s preference of mother, and the need for contact comfort was most significant in producing an attachment. Researchers also found that the infants feeding from the wire mother experienced digestion issues and diarrhea, and that the lack of a soft mother was psychologically stressful.

Through the Grandmother’s Law women are assisted through the birth by strong and supportive women. Traditional healing practices used by Indigenous midwives during the birth, include therapeutic massage for relaxation, sand, heat, smoke and fire to help with pain and being spiritually strong after birth was important for the mother and baby. Traditional rituals aimed at stopping bleeding, healing, warming will be used.