“Should Neonates Sleep Alone?”   (Abstract)
Morgan, Horn & Bergman, Biological Psychiatry, November 2011

Comments: Glen Dewar: Babycenter  / World Science

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Tiny Baby’s Dramatic Delivery
Story from New Zealand, Dec. 2011

Ras, who specialises in natural birth, says: “In an emergency like this, with no immediate hospital back-up, you go back to the basics: all babies need air (oxygen), warmth, food and love. On mother’s chest, close to her heart, connected to the placenta and oxygen near her mouth – this was the best we could offer her for the first hour. We made a little hat of Gladwrap and a Gladwrap blanket over her body so she wouldn’t lose heat or fluids through her very thin skin.

Comment: the report does not mention “skin-to-skin contact” … but that is what Midwife Betty did. This baby did very well (as far as arriving to hospital, still there!) , but I wonder whether it would have done any better at all if it was in hospital! It would likely have been separated, got stressed and deteriorated.

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“The very best environment for a baby to grow and thrive, is the mother’s body,” says Dr Nils Bergman, a doctor specializing in Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) in South Africa. “When placed skin-to-skin on the mother’s chest, the baby receives warmth, protection and food, and its brain can develop optimally. “The mother’s skin is the baby’s natural environment, and both physically and emotionally the healthiest place for the baby to be”.

 

November 2011: The New Yorker – Comment by parents doing skin-to-skin in NICU
November 2010: Also from KidsCare, Canada, on the importance of skin to skin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IYtFrgbDUo

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Dr. Nils Bergman discusses the development of social & emotional intelligence of infants.

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Miracle mum brings premature baby son back to life with two hours of loving cuddles after doctors pronounce him dead.

Text Link: Today Parenting

Comment by Nils (Word document)

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