Skin contact with mom soothes preemies’ pain

Appropriately used, a mother’s touch helps a child know he is valued and loved.

Today my 4 month old son had trouble napping. He had his shots yesterday and nothing seemed to soothe him. Until I just held him close and rubbed my hand in circles on his back. He quieted down enough to sleep.

Whether you have a teenager stressed over school, or a toddler scared of a stranger at the mall… a mother’s loving touch makes a big difference.

A crossover trial reported in BMC Pediatrics found that kangaroo mother care, or skin-to-skin contact with mom, soothes even the tiniest preterm infants when blood is drawn from their heels. The infant, wearing only a diaper, is placed upright on the mother’s bare chest, and covered with the mother’s clothes. Pain levels significantly lowered in preemies that got kangaroo mother care, writes Celeste Johnston, D.Ed., R.N., of McGill University, and colleagues.

The ability to recover quickly, however, is a clinically important finding and “is a sign of the ability to maintain homeostasis, a major task that the very preterm neonate must accomplish in order to grow and develop,” they said.

The mother definitely benefits from the close contact, too, and lowers the stress of not being able to comfort her infant staying in intensive case.

I also found this article on the difference that a mother’s touch makes on her children. Read it an be inspired. 

source; image: personal collection Grace Ibay @2008