Stress in a pre-term infant can cause health complications such as changes in vital signs, hyperextension of extremities, irritability, and the inability to integrate with other sensory input. These and other stress symptoms can delay the infant’s neurodevelopment (LaRossa, 2017). Studies have been done as to the best ways to decrease the stress that impacts the neonates daily and have shown that breast feeding and skin-to-skin contact can help reduces stress. A question that was asked was does skin-to-skin contact with the father help reduce stress as well as it does with the mother.
With preterm neonates (P), how effective is Kangaroo Care with the father (I) compared to Kangaroo Care with the mother (C) in reducing psychological and stress responses (O) while in the NICU(T)? A research that studied the effects of skin-to-skin contact with neonates and both of their parents was done in Australia. The study encompassed 25 sets of parents and their infants that were born at less than 35 weeks gestation or younger. Each session lasted a minimum of 60 minutes with either the mother of the father. Then samples of saliva from both the infant and the parent was collected in order to check salivary cortisol levels. Blood pressure of the infants and the parents were also
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There are more and more infants being born into homes where there is only one parent or one parent lives or works to far away to visit regularly. Thus, there may be a need for the infant to have skin-to-skin contact with another family member or even a surrogate adult. The research only looked into the effects of 60 minutes with the parent, but more research can be done into the effects of longer periods of time. There could even be the possibility of using simulated skin contact infants that are to fragile to have actual skin-to-skin
Mothers and newborns have a physiologic need to be together during the first moment of birth. Interrupted skin-to-skin attachment between mothers and babies can be harmful and can negatively impact short and long term health outcomes and breastfeeding success. Evidence supports instant skin-to-skin care after the birth, vaginally and C-section, during and after cesarean surgery for all stable mothers and newborns will enhance limitless opportunities for care and breastfeeding. Skin-to-skin contact after delivery is golden opportunity. Many studies validate that mothers and babies should be skin-to-skin promptly after birth. Not only promotes healthier baby and successful breastfeeding outcome, it is also
Skin to skin contact in the delivery room and breastfeeding are best for mothers and infant. Skin to skin contact helps mothers become confident with their infants, decreases the mother’s anxiety toward motherhood, helps produce more breast milk, and helps them become aware of their infant’s cues, not to mention an incredible lifelong bonding experience. As for the infant’s benefits of skin to skin contact, it helps with temperature regulation, stabilization of the heart rate, control of the infant’s blood sugar, and helps with weight gain. When initiating immediate skin to skin contact, infants should be placed on their mother’s chest for instinctive skills. The infant begins to smell their mother’s breast and look at their mother, which
A psychologist in the 1950’s by the name of Harry Harlow did a study on the parent-infant bond using a baby monkey and two artificial mothers. To make the experiment proper, Harlow removed the infant from its biological mother early on and was raised with individual cages (Myers, 2010, p. 188). The experiment was set up so that there were two “mothers”; one with the monkey’s blanket and the other had a bottle attached to a wire skeleton. This experiment was to test if a soft, caring mother, or one that provided food whenever pleased would more comfort an infant monkey.
The amount of care a newborn child needs is immense, in some cases this is like a full-time job. Parents who are not able to give this nurturing to their child negatively affect the overall well-being of the child. Most emotional and psychological problems arise from the way a child was taken care of from birth all the way through adolescence. However, not every pregnant woman is able to provide for her child due to finances, relationship stability, age, living conditions or
The Benefits of Kangaroo Care for Fathers with an Infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): Educational, Emotional and Paternal Role Support.
The attachment between an infant and its primary caregivers has long been a source of debate and scientific study. Some older ideas on attachment would be, in today’s standards, considered erroneous and insensitive. Harry Harlow conducted experiments on primates in the 1950s, to better understand attachment, while being controversial and certainly unethical, they provided a much-needed insight into the bond between mother and child, and so led to changes in how women were encouraged to bring up their child. John Bowlby used Harlow’s research to instigate changes in child-rearing practices.
There are a plethora of benefits associated with skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth. Though evidence-based practice has identified the benefits associated with skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, there is a disparity based on type of birth. Mothers who deliver via caesarean section often have less opportunity for immediate skin-to-skin contact with their baby after birth. This article focuses on the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and includes a research study comparing the opinions of mothers who have experienced caesarean section births, with and without immediate skin-to-skin contact after birth.
Bergh, Charpak, Ezeonodo, Rooyen & Udani (2012) discuss the physiological benefits that infants may have, some of which have been increased regulation of heart rate and thermoregulation, respirations and oxygenation, improved sleep patterns with decreased crying spells, improved motor movements, and better initiation of breastfeeding by infants and milk production on behalf of the mother. Additionally, further research states that kangaroo care has been shown to reduce premature infant mortality by 40% (Engmann et al.
Kangaroo care is a method of holding a baby that involves skin-to-skin contact. The baby is placed in an upright position against a parent's bare chest. This snuggling of the infant inside the pouch of their parent's shirt, much like a kangaroo's pouch, led to the creation of the term "kangaroo care.” Kangaroo care was first popularized in Colombia in the 1970s, where it was developed as an alternative to inadequate and insufficient incubator care for preterm newborn infants (World Health Organization (WHO), 2003). In the decades that have past since, kangaroo care has been promoted as more than an alternative to incubator care; it has proven effective for thermal control, breastfeeding and bonding in all newborn infants, irrespective of setting,
Does teaching the benefits of skin to skin contact and breastfeeding at prenatal visits increase the practice of skin to skin contact post-delivery and have an improvement in breastfeeding practices?
In 2014, Hillary Moore, a student in the DNP program, published an article titled “Improving Kangaroo Care Policy and Implementation in the Neonatal Intensive Care” in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing. In the article she mentioned that the “immediate separation between mother and infant” could have negative effects on the health of the mother and of the infant (2014). Due to the risk of impaired attachment or bonding of the mother and infant, she advises to practice kangaroo care during each visit. She defines kangaroo care as “the act of skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant.” Kangaroo care was first introduced in 1983 in Bogota, Columbia. One advantage of kangaroo care is that it does not cost money to do it or implement it. On the
The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the
This study is a clinical trial that aims to find out the effect of massage on behavioral state of neonates with respiratory distress syndrome. The participants were 45 neonates who hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit of Afzalipour hospital in Kerman. Parental consent was obtained for research participation. The inclusion criteria included all infants born with respiratory distress syndrome, less than 36 weeks gestational age and without of any the following conditions: contraindication of touch, skin problems, hyperbilirubinemia, anemia, respirators, chest tube, addicted mother, congenital and central nervous system disease. Infants entered the massage protocol during the second day after starting enteral feeding, because the
Infants are a special cohort of a population in the society. Children between the ages of five months to two years are at a stage where they start familiarizing with their surroundings and have different reactions to situations. The surrounding where an infant grows greatly determines his or her development. The primary determinant of the development of infants is the parent-infant interaction (Crain, 2015). The first bond or relation of a child is with its biological parents or guardians in the case of orphaned children.
Moore conducted 30 studies including 1,925 mothers and their babies. The study showed that the babies interacted more with their mothers, stayed warmer and cried less. These babies were more likely to be breastfed and to breastfeed for longer, if they had early skin-to-skin contact. These babies were also more likely to have a good early relationship with their mother, but that is difficult to measure. There was another study conducted with eleven women, their ages vary from 23 to 38. All of these women are having a cesarean birth. Of these eleven women there are eleven babies. The babies took between five to eight minutes to achieve skin-to-skin contact with their mother; and the duration of the time was between 12 to 62 minutes. The main theme that came from this experiment was “mutual caregiving.’ The term ‘mutual caregiving’ refers to the infant 's deep emotional connection to its primary caregiver, which is often the mother. This is a tie that bonds them together and when the infant is in contact with the caregiver the infant will feel joy, comfort and safety. In rodent studies, the pups who had the least attentive contact from their mothers were the ones whose health and