Premature Babies In The Intensive Care Unit Need Body Heat
Premature babies in the intensive care unit are very fragile and delicate beings. These tiny little individuals were born ahead of their time. This is why they need all the more intensive care in order to grow and stay healthy.
However, this care means that the premature babies must be separated from their parents.
As a result, they spend many hours alone in an incubator. Premature babies need constant medical supervision in order for their bodies to develop healthily.
Still, there is one area that is often neglected, even though it is just as important to development. We are referring to the child’s emotional health.
As babies grow in the mother’s womb, they have physical needs to be healthy. But their emotional health is also important.
Parents of premature babies often want nothing more than to spend 24 hours a day with their beloved little babies. However, this is usually not possible for various reasons.
You will also need to rest and then you will not be able to stay in the neonatal unit. They may also have other children to look after.
There are many factors that parents cannot control that keep them from being with their baby all the time.
Nonetheless, meeting these emotional needs is vital in order for the baby to grow and gain strength and health.
Premature babies in the intensive care unit can never get too much love
Intensive care premature babies need a lot of love. And in those moments when their parents cannot be with them, they still need body heat for calming and support.
Fortunately, there are people who are aware of these needs. More and more hospitals have a program that allows volunteers to help out when parents are unavailable.
These loving volunteers provide body warmth and affection for premature babies in the ICU when their parents can’t.
A very good example is St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). This has launched a baby cuddle program.
It consists in disinterested volunteers spending hours loving these tender beings.
Your time and dedication gives these little beings the body warmth they so desperately need to be strong.
The feedback from this program has been amazing. In fact, there are always new volunteers who want to take part.
There is even a large waiting list of people who want to share their love with these little angels.
Babies need love from birth. All these volunteers want to help the little ones through this difficult phase.
Sometimes these volunteers are a lot more important than you think
You might be wondering where the parents of these premature babies are in the intensive care unit. In most cases, they just need a short break or have to look after their other children.
Unfortunately, there are also some sad cases in which the mother is not available because she is sick or has died.
She may also need medical attention, due to complications during childbirth, or even suffer from a mental illness.
Under certain circumstances, there is also the fact that the father is absent or unknown. There are many things that can create a great demand for volunteers.
Babies need skin contact with other people from birth. In the case of premature babies, this need is even greater.
Regardless of the reason, the time in the womb is shorter with these babies. Therefore, body heat and loving hugs are necessary to make you feel safe, protected, and emotionally supported.
At St. Bonifatius Hospital you can easily see the difference that this loving attention from the volunteers makes.
These babies have better sleep patterns and develop better than babies who did not receive this level of alertness.
When premature babies are left alone in the intensive care unit for a long time and have no physical contact, their first days in the world are particularly tough.
Of course, it is best if this physical contact comes from the mother or the father. But if this is not possible, the little ones should still not be left alone.
Volunteers like this one at St. Boniface Hospital have joined a very important mission in the lives of these premature babies.
Can you imagine the difference it would make if every hospital in the world had a similar program?
