A mum having skin-to-skin contact with her newborn baby is a beautiful image. Imagine the reaction to a photo of a father and his young son, holding premature babies on their chest? The photo has gone viral online. Twice.
The photo was originally shared last year by a Danish family advocacy organization called Forældre og Fødsel, and in Danish the caption explained the benefits of skin-to-skin contact for premature babies.
Last week, NINO Birth, a South African based Facebook page, reposted the image but translated the Danish post into English.
Here is the translated post:
“Skin to Skin Contact is not “new”,but Sweden certainly leads the way in making this care family -friendly even for very tiny babies.
I love this picture of big brother helping his dad care for the twins!!
“Revolutionary and innovative practices in Uppsala, Sweden. Children of 700 grams can be skin to skin on the parent’s chest instead of the incubator.
A Swedish Professor Uwe Ewald, came to Hvidovre hospital (Denmark) to talk about his revolutionary practice, where even very small premature babies are taken out of the incubator to be skin to skin with their parents as much as possible. Premature babies, born three months prematurely, are put on the parent’s chest instead of alone in an incubator.
Uwe Ewald points out that the parent’s chest regulates the temperature better than an incubator. Skin to skin contact helps the baby to breathe better. The child becomes more calm and gains weight faster. Research shows that parents bacterial flora – compared with hospital bacteria – reduces the risk of serious infections in these delicate children.
100 doctors, nurses and other staff from all over Denmark gather at Hvidovre hospital Friday the 29.5. to hear Uwe Ewald research.
The initiator of the meeting is the Fund “A good start in life” in cooperation with the Neonatal Department at Hvidovre Hospital.
Hvidovre Hospital’s neonatal department also has positive experience with skin-to-skin contact and currently has a major research project.”
The post is definitely one that needs to be re-shared.
