Medical science can do a lot of amazing things, but sometimes, it can’t compete with the power of a mother’s embrace. It’s called kangaroo care, and it’s practiced in many third world countries where medicine, and medical providers, are hard to come by. Instead of regulating a baby’s heart beat and temperature with machines, in kangaroo care a baby’s vitals are regulated by strapping them securely, skin to skin, to their parent’s chest – just like a baby kangaroo in a pouch.
For Kate and David Ogg, an Australian couple whose twins were born premature, kangaroo care was a life saver. Doctors said that their son, Jamie, was dead. They’d done all they could to recucitate him. But Jamie’s parents wouldn’t give up. Kate cuddled her baby to her chest in the kangaroo style, and less than two hours later his gasps were becoming more regular. Soon he was opening his eyes and moving around. At first doctors dismissed the baby’s recovery as reflexive movements but it became clear that the baby was on his way back to life.
Five months later, Jamie and his twin sister are thriving.
Dr. Mitchell Goldstein, who practices neonatal-perinatal medicine and pediatrics in West Covina, Calif., tells AOL Health that Jamie’s life may very well have been saved by kangaroo care. “This story is intriguing. I’m not saying that in all cases kangaroo care will resuscitate every preterm baby, but there are certain cues moms provide for babies — it’s something that’s a testimony to the maternal instinct bond,” he says.
“Studies have shown that in third world countries kangaroo care improves survival rates by 90 percent,” says Goldstein. “Moms are nature’s incubators — and not only to warm a baby. If a baby’s temperature gets too high the mom will cool down. Kangaroo care also improves breast feeding. It can have a tremendous benefit for all babies, whether or not they are in distress or preterm.”
As if we needed more reasons to hold our babies close!
