Therapeutic Touch

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH

KANGAROO CARE:

Kangaroo care is the practice of holding a diapered baby to the bare chest (if you're the father) or between your breasts (if you're the mother), with a blanket draped over your baby's back. This skin-to-skin contact benefits both mother and baby. This is the best way to develop a bonding between the mother and baby since the baby is not in contact with the mother anymore. Most often, in NICU environment, babies are born very premature and lack the touch and feel and warmth of the mother which is otherwise received in-utero. To facilitate some of these aspects and help with growth of the baby, Kangaroo care is the best preferred practice if the baby is stable.

There are many benefits to both baby and the mother. For babies, it maintains body warmth, regulates heart and breathing rates, helps in gaining weight, spends more time in deep sleep, spends more time being quiet and alert and less time crying. The baby has a better chance of successful breastfeeding. In mothers, Kangaroo care helps in breast milk production. Kangaroo care has emotional benefits for parents too. It builds confidence as they provide intimate care that can improve their baby's health and well being. Parents are giving something special to their baby that only they can give. By holding their baby skin-to-skin, parents will feel the experience of new parenthood and closeness to their baby. Kangaroo care is healing in many ways, for both parents and their baby.

Mothers, newborns, and children are inseparably linked in life and in health care needs. The continuum of care is achieved through a combination of well defined policies and strategies to improve home care practices and health care services throughout the lifecycle, building on existing programs and packages. The continuum of care focuses on attention on effective mother and child care interventions and integration. Care starts in a hospital setting first, where skill nursing...