Techniques
In kangaroo care, the baby wears only a diaper and a hat and is placed in a flexed (fetal position) with maximal skin-to-skin contact on parent's chest. The baby is secured with a stretchy wrap that goes around the naked torso of the adult, providing the baby with proper support and positioning (maintain flexion), constant containment without pressure points or creases, and protecting from air drafts (thermoregulation). If it is cold, the parent may wear a shirt or hospital gown with an opening to the front and a blanket over the wrap for the baby. http://www.skintoskincontact.com/ssc-safe-technique.aspx
The tight bundling is enough to stimulate the baby: vestibular stimulation from the mother’s breathing and chest movement, auditory stimulation from the mother's voice and natural sounds of breathing and the heartbeat, touch by the skin of the mother, the wrap, and her natural tendency to place the hands over the baby. All this stimulation is important for the baby’s development. Fathers can also use the skin-to-skin contact method.
"Birth Kangaroo Care" places the baby in kangaroo care with the mother within one minute after birth and up to the first feeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this practice, with minimal disruption for babies that don't require life support. The baby's head must be dried immediately after birth and then the baby is placed with a hat on the mother's chest. Measurements, etc. are performed after the first feeding. According to the US Institute of Kangaroo Care, healthy babies should maintain skin-to-skin contact method for about 3 months so that both baby and mother are established in breastfeeding and have achieved physiological recovery from the birth process.
For premature babies, this method can be used continuously around the clock or for sessions of no less than one hour in duration (the length of one full sleep cycle.) It can be started as soon as the baby is stabilized, so it may be at birth or within hours, days, or weeks after birth.
Kangaroo care is different to the practice of babywearing. In Kangaroo care, the adult and the baby are skin-to-skin and chest-to-chest, securing the position of the baby with a stretchy wrap, and it is practiced to provide developmental care to premature babies for 6 months and full term newborns for 3 months. In Babywearing the adult and the child are fully clothed, the child may be in the front or back of the adult, can be done with many different types of carriers and slings, and is commonly practiced with infants and toddlers.
Read more about this topic: Kangaroo Care
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