Every year fifteen million premature babies are born around the world, which means that one in ten babies are born before the 37th week of gestation. Efforts are increasing to improve the quality of life of premature babies, as well as to help their recovery during their stay in the ICU until they are ready to go home.
Medical advances make it possible for more and more premature babies to get ahead with the fewest possible sequelae. However, staying in intensive care is not the most pleasant sensation for a baby who, in addition to medical care, also needs to feel caressed, hugged and talked to in order to get ahead .
Types of premature babies
Preterm birth is the leading cause of death among newborns during the first four weeks of life, and the second leading cause of death among children under five years of age, after pneumonia.
According to the week in which premature babies were born, they are classified into:
-
Moderate or late preterm: born between 32 and 37 weeks of gestation . They represent more than 80% of premature babies and the majority survive with adequate care.
-
Very preterm – born between 28 and 32 weeks gestation – need extra supportive care. Most survive.
-
Extreme preterm: born before 28 weeks of gestation . They require the most intensive care to survive. In developed countries, the survival of these children is increasing and with fewer consequences. They have a 90 percent chance of survival, although they may suffer from physical, neurological, and learning disabilities. In low-income countries, only 10 percent survive.
Touching and hugging the premature baby
Physical contact is a basic need of the newborn, even, and even more so for the one born before term. Being born premature implies that when the baby should be warm inside the mother’s womb while its organs are developing, for “x” circumstances, it has arrived in the world before its time. Now it has to continue to develop “artificially” on its own with the help of the machines to which it remains connected.
Thanks to increasingly premature incubators and machines they manage to get ahead, but the need for human contact can only be satisfied through caresses and hugs .
Being in your arms not only makes them feel comfortable and safe, but they need to feel that they are touched to improve their brain development as well. Research carried out by specialists in the United States and published in the journal “Current Biology” ensures that providing pleasant tactile sensations to babies allows better brain development.
These pleasant sensations allow them to counteract the physical pain they suffer as a result of punctures and other medical interventions during their stay in the ICU.
Kangaroo method
Fortunately, more and more hospitals are aware of the importance of parents staying with their babies 24 hours a day . This closeness allows both the mother and the father, or even a brother, to practice the Kangaroo Method with the baby, placing him skin-to-skin on his chest.
It is proven that this method has an effective impact on temperature regulation, respiration control, and favors breastfeeding, among other benefits. In addition to strengthening the emotional bond with the baby, giving the mother greater security about her care.
Talk to the premature baby
Hugging him, caressing him while talking to him in a soft tone , singing songs or telling stories, even if we think he cannot hear us, makes the baby feel safe and protected, as well as being beneficial for his development.
Studies carried out with premature babies show that the brain of young children responds to sound stimuli from their parents, and that they are even capable of producing sounds if the parents speak to them frequently.
In Babies and more | The most premature baby in the world: he was born with 21 weeks and 425 grams and today he is three years old, Humane treatment of the hospitalized or premature baby and their families: a fundamental right that is beginning to become reality
