A young boy has taken over the internet after he was seen on a photo helping his father give skin-to-skin to prematurely born twins.
The photo shows the topless youngster keeping his siblings close to his body as they’re wrapped in bedding.
His father is next to him doing the same. This photo was taken in the Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Skin-to-skin practice is common in Sweden-babies are taken out of the incubators and spend some time skin on skin which is considered pivotal for their improvement.
Family-Friendly Care Is Pivotal
Even though skin-to-skin contact with newborns isn’t new, Sweden leads in the family-friendliness of taking care for babies.
According to the post which it says is for Neuroscience for Improved Neonatal Outcomes, these are revolutionary and innovative practices in Uppsala, Sweden.
Babies of 700 grams are put on parents’ chest for this vital skin-to-skin contact.
According to Uwe Ewald, a Swedish professor who came to the Hvidovre hospital to talk about his revolutionary method where small premature babies are taken for some periods of time from the incubators for skin to skin contact, parents’ chest regulate the temperature better than incubators.
This contact also helps better the baby’s breathing.
Ewald further emphasizes that this calms the baby and helps him/her gain weight.
According to research, the bacterial flora of parents compared to those of hospitals, lowers the risk of infection in these highly sensitive newborns.
Many Parents Agree that Skin-to-Skin Contact Should Be Practiced more often
The baby has only a diaper and the parent is almost topless in order to ensure best contact.
A lot of people who commented on the photo agreed that this method should be practiced more often.
One user, Emily Ann, said that she couldn’t hold her twins until a week after they were born. Their skin-to-skin contact was so bittersweet and will never be forgotten.
Another user, Stephanie Savole, praised the method said that she loves it and wishes it could happen where she lives when her daughter was born. She cried when she looked at her in the incubator.
Other users shared their own stories with the method, also known as kangaroo care.
Initially, it was developed as care for pre-term infants in places where incubators are unreliable or unavailable.
Today, most mainstream medicine promotes incubators for pre-term babies; however, this divides them from their parents.
However, research indicates that though it helps their development, it hasn’t been widely used with very premature or sick babies.
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