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I'm a Kangaroo Baby

Exploring Kangaroo Care

By Marie-Helen Goyetche

When a baby kangaroo (a joey) is born, it is barely the size of a bean. It crawls unaided from the mother's birth canal up the abdomen into the pouch. Once the joey is inside, it attaches its mouth to one of the four nipples. There, in the safety and warmth of its mother's pouch, the joey matures. Isn't nature wonderful?

Going back to basics is now the latest trend for moms who deliver well before their EDDs (expected delivery dates).

Nurses suggested that these babies might be ideal candidates for a relatively new approach to preemie health: skin-to-skin care, also known as Kangaroo Care.

This method is taken from Mother Nature's example with baby kangaroos. The premature baby, wearing only a diaper, is placed on the mother's or father's bare chest, inside the blouse or shirt. A blanket is placed over the baby. The warm skin-to-skin contact benefits both parents and baby.

Kangaroo Care let these parents hold their babies -- an opportunity they otherwise might not have had while Sydney and Tyler were in isolettes in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). After the parents agreed to give it a try, the nurses placed colored cardboard signs on the babies' isolettes that read, "I'm a Kangaroo Baby!"

"We thought it was a really good idea, as now we were able to hold her," says Marcie. "I could tell Sydney was more relaxed and had a deeper sleep when I held her."

For the premature infant, the physiological benefits of Kangaroo Care can be substantial. According to neonatal nurse practitioner Jan Wheeler-Sherman, this skin-to-skin contact has been shown to stabilize the baby's body temperature, increase the amount of sleep time, calm the infant, reduce the number of apnea episodes, and promote stability of heart and respiratory functions.