Someone wrote in a post "parents are such fragile
creatures"...Especially true of NICU parents!! How wonderful it is to
give the parents another thing (besides providing optimal health through
giving their baby BRM) that they can do for their
infants...skin-to-skin holding. This is something only the parents can
do..the nurses can't! In an earlier post I wrote about the resistance of
many nurses in our NICU to helping parents do Kangaroo Care or even to
bring the subject up as a possibility and I think this is directly
related to the issue of difficulty in relinquishing control.  Everything
is so measured/controlled in that environment that the more "human"
things that are not technically oriented are not welcomed by the staff
with such open arms.  One NICU nurse said to me this summer, "Well, we
just dno't see any tangible benefits from Kangaroo Care."  (Even tho I
have talked about it, posted articles on it, done inservices about it,
etc...  And anyway, isn't the smile that spreads over the face of the
mother and the wonderful deep sleep state induced in the infant enough
to be called "tangible benefits"?) Frustrating.  So that's when I
decided to tell the parents about it!
Edie Armstrong, Fairfax, Virginia.