When your baby is born you have many different feelings. Joy, happiness
and love are just a few examples of how you may feel. However, when your
baby is born early or with a complicating medical condition, those
feelings may also include grief, disappointment, anger and fear. In many
cases being born early also means spending time in a hospital,
specifically a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This experience is much
different than being home with your family.Once infants are hospitalized,
they experience several different types of touch. The first touch the
infant may receive is negative touch - anything that is painful, invasive
or uncomfortable. Most of this negative touch comes in the form of
procedures that are necessary for the infant's health and survival, and
are performed by someone other than the parents. The other main type of
touch the baby receives is positive touch. Sometimes there is a lack of
positive touch - due to the parent's fear or the healthcare team's busy
schedules. This can also be affected by the baby's developmental
level.Generally, when positive touch is provided, it is done so by the
parents and this type of touch is anything that is considered loving,
nurturing, soothing or comforting.It becomes imperative that nurturing
touch is introduced to help balance an infant's experience of negative
touch. By balancing the negative touch interventions with positive touch,
the baby is less likely to suffer long-term problems, such as tactile
defensiveness or touch aversion. Both of these are conditions that arise
when there is an overabundance of negative touch without the balance of
positive touch.When a child is affected by a touch aversion, they might
not like to be touched. Sometimes this is all over, other times it is in
specific areas. Specific areas often include the infant's heels or around
the mouth. This is caused because of negative experiences in these area
(an infant receiving numerous heel sticks or being ventilated). This can
create a problem with lifelong consequences for the baby and their
family.This is why it is invaluable to introduce nurturing touch in the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as soon as it can be done so safely.
Kangaroo Care, or skin-to-skin care, is an emerging practice in the NICU
which does encourage touch and holding of the infant. This close skin-to-
skin contact can help an infant regulate their breathing, heart rate and
body temperature. Being close to the parents also encourages bonding and
connection. Once a baby is stable enough for touch via skin-to-skin
contact and containment holds, infant massage may then be introduced
slowly to provide an infant with an appropriate amount of developmentally
appropriate stimulation.Infant Massage has been shown to have numerous
benefits for the baby, parents and healthcare team.For infants; infant
massage can:
Facilitate weight gain in preterm infants, lowers levels of cortisol, the
stress hormone
Increases muscle tone
Improves sleep and awake patterns
Shortens lengths of stay in hospitals
Improves cognitive and motor development at eight months of age
Recent research shows there are significant benefits to infant massage
that out weigh over-stimulation
Properly applied techniques produce increased benefits, such as improved
developmental scores and earlier discharge
Healthcare staff and specially trained pediatric massage therapists may
introduce infant massage into a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to
facilitate a safe, effective family centered care approach.Copyright (c)
2011 Liddle Kidz Foundation Infant and Children's Pediatric Massage