I promised you the story of how touch saved the life of a premature baby. So here we go!
Twins Kyrie and Brielle Jackson weighed just 2lb each when they were born 12 weeks prematurely in 1995 at the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Worcester, MA, USA.
Brielle was not expected to make it. Nurse Gayle Kasparian was trying every intervention she could think of, but to no avail. There was just one thing left to try. She went against the hospital rules and placed the babies in the same incubator.
Kyrie threw an arm over her ailing sister in an endearing embrace and snuggled against her. Almost immediately, Brielle's blood-oxygen saturation levels, which had been frighteningly low, soared. She began to breathe more easily. The frantic crying stopped and her blue pallor gave way to a healthy pink. Over the next weeks, her health improved steadily, snuggled next to her sister and the babies went home in good health. Apparently they continued sleeping together and snuggling throughout infancy!
This story, as well as being circulated on the net, also appeared in Readers Digest and Life magazine. And thanks to nurse Gayle Kasparian's innovation, co-bedding of premature twins is now a common practice.
Another method used to stabilise premmies is "kangaroo care," a term for prolonged skin-to-skin contact with parents and other caregivers. The technique, named because of its resemblance to the way pouched animals care for their young, involves skin-to-skin contact between parent and baby. Often the child, wearing only a diaper and covered by a blanket, is placed against the parent's bare chest. Proponents say the method can have amazing effects: a steadier heart rate, better breathing, greater contentment, deeper sleep.
I promised you the story of how touch saved the life of a premature baby. So here we go!
Twins Kyrie and Brielle Jackson weighed just 2lb each when they were born 12 weeks prematurely in 1995 at the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Worcester, MA, USA.
Brielle was not expected to make it. Nurse Gayle Kasparian was trying every intervention she could think of, but to no avail. There was just one thing left to try. She went against the hospital rules and placed the babies in the same incubator.
Kyrie threw an arm over her ailing sister in an endearing embrace and snuggled against her. Almost immediately, Brielle's blood-oxygen saturation levels, which had been frighteningly low, soared. She began to breathe more easily. The frantic crying stopped and her blue pallor gave way to a healthy pink. Over the next weeks, her health improved steadily, snuggled next to her sister and the babies went home in good health. Apparently they continued sleeping together and snuggling throughout infancy!
This story, as well as being circulated on the net, also appeared in Readers Digest and Life magazine. And thanks to nurse Gayle Kasparian's innovation, co-bedding of premature twins is now a common practice.
Another method used to stabilise premmies is "kangaroo care," a term for prolonged skin-to-skin contact with parents and other caregivers. The technique, named because of its resemblance to the way pouched animals care for their young, involves skin-to-skin contact between parent and baby. Often the child, wearing only a diaper and covered by a blanket, is placed against the parent's bare chest. Proponents say the method can have amazing effects: a steadier heart rate, better breathing, greater contentment, deeper sleep.