Nehemiah, now 82 days old, has grown to weigh 4 pounds, 3 ounces. His mother Tasheena Purdue cherishes their time being skin-to-skin. She hopes they can go home around his due date, Oct. 13.
Tasheena Purdue knows the benefits of skin-to-skin contact. She’s a hospice caregiver in Canton and a mom to 5. She’s been diligent to provide “kangaroo care” for her children especially with her newborn son, Nehemiah, who is a patient our neonatal intensive care unit.
Kangaroo care refers to the act of placing your newborn, with a diaper only, on your chest – skin to skin.
Nehemiah was born July 1 at just 25 weeks gestation and weighed 1 pound and 3 ounces. “I hold him every chance I get, which is nearly every day,” Tasheena shared. “He really falls into a deep sleep when he’s on my chest. I rub his back…and his oxygen levels improve.”
“Have you kangarooed today?” asks Lela Bartley and other nurses.
“It’s good for you and it’s good for baby,” says registered nurse Lela Bartley, who has been a NICU education coordinator for more than 30 years, but an Akron Children’s employee for 45 years. “Allowing the baby to sleep on their parent’s chest for an hour or more is really beneficial. The baby goes into a deeper sleep in kangaroo care than in a bed.”
Numerous studies have documented the benefits of kangaroo care: improved heart rate, oxygen saturation, breathing, sleep, weight gain, breastfeeding and reduced crying. Research has also found positive associations with cognitive and motor skills, and psychosocial benefits, such as attachment and parental confidence.
“For mom, it increases her milk production and reduces post-partum depression,” Lela added. “Kangaroo care is a way to love your baby, and that increases everyone’s happiness.”
To celebrate and increase awareness for kangaroo care, Akron Children’s NICUs are holding a Kangaroo-a-thon, which includes a challenge to get as many parents kangarooing as possible from Sept. 17-29.
NICU Clinical Coordinator Lynne Cooke, RN, generates lots of smiles in a kangaroo costume for staff, parents and siblings, as Staff Nurse Shelby Wenger helps pass out themed cookies.
For encouragement, there are giveaways, raffle prizes, cookies and Lunch & Learn classes for parents to share experiences with each other.
Magnet photo frames and soft knit blankets will be given to NICU families as a gentle reminder during the 2-week campaign. Staff Nurse Sean Lundholm shows off a blanket.
As many NICU parents will testify, kangaroo care is such a simple gesture – and pleasure – with both immediate and life-long benefits.
There are weekly raffle baskets. Each hour-long session gets a family a ticket into the week’s raffle. Staff Nurse Emily Vartenuk encourages everyone to participate.
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