Every baby is different. Some babies spend their first days in small incubators, not able to be taken home. Premature babies are often not strong enough to go home at their time of birth. Some parents are not able to hold their baby, and some only have the opportunity to do so for small moments in the day. So, hospitals take steps to make sure these babies are getting the touch they need to develop properly.
At Ball Memorial Hospital, there is a Baby Cuddler Program with volunteers like Kay Stickle. She has been volunteering at the hospital for 36 years and spent 20 of those years in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Before COVID-19, Kay had been working in the emergency room and NICU at the same time, having to set up her schedule so she would have a week in between the two departments.
“I would know if I had caught anything from emergency before I went to NICU,” says Kay.
Anyone working or visiting a NICU should not come in if they are coming down with sickness or not feeling well. Most cold viruses are caused by direct contact and are difficult for premature babies to fight off.
“If I had come in contact with some communicable disease or germ I would not carry it to NICU, because our babies are so fragile, and our families are fragile.”
Kay Stickle, Baby cuddler
According to the New York Dept. of Health, babies born between weeks 23 and 28 are considered extremely preterm, as a full term will last 40 weeks. The survival rate of a 24 week old preemie is between 60 and 70 percent while a 28 week old preemie has about an 80 to 90 percent rate of survival, the University of Utah reports.
Chelsea Keller, a nurse practitioner at Meridian Women’s Health who worked in a labor and delivery unit for about seven years, says “When you have so many synapses, so many neurons firing in the brain, every single moment, every single second is an opportunity for learning and development in newborns.”
Occasionally when a baby comes in that has sensory sensitivity and the nervous system has not developed, Kay says, “We simply put our hands over them… and they will quiet down because they can feel the warmth of our hands and we will whisper softly to them”.
When babies get a little bigger and are able to be touched, but not held, what’s called hand hugs are implemented. This is done by placing one hand on the baby’s head and the other on the stomach or around feet, according to March of Dimes.
In a study done by Paediatr Child Health, it was proven that on average, babies who participated in a cuddler program spent 6.36 less days in the NICU. This was tested on neonatal abstinence syndrome, which is when a baby is exposed to opioids for a period of time in the womb.
NICU’s also care for babies that are born with alcohol or drug dependency. Kay says, “they have to go through the withdrawal, just like anyone else.”
Neonatal abstinence syndrome can develop in babies if the mother continues to use the drug until about a week before giving birth, the National Library of Medicine reports.
Keller explains, “One of the major symptoms we see in neonatal abstinence syndrome is a heightened moro reflex.”
Moro reflexes are tested when a baby is born by lifting the baby’s head gently and releasing the head quickly. The baby should have a startled look and their arms moved sideways with palms facing up. With neonatal abstinence syndrome, they will have a hyperactive moro where the baby’s arms will stay up in the air lasting about three to four seconds, according to North Carolina Pregnancy & Opioid Exposure Project.
Babies going through withdrawals have heightened senses and cuddling has a similar effect to calm them, “as a weighted blanket for somebody who has some sensory issues,” says Keller.
The volunteer cuddlers have many responsibilities outside of cuddling, including changing bedding, changing diapers, feeding, making signs, and stocking the rooms with supplies, says Kay.
Cuddlers hold the babies when feeding them through a gastro nasal feeding tube to, “connect food and love and all those things together for them,” says Kay.
Babies will often cuddle and mold themselves to the holder, in order to comfort themselves. Babies will attempt to get as much physical contact as they can, reported by The National Library of Medicine.
Nurses are given ratios to how many babies that they can take care of at one time and baby cuddlers are able to make up for the difference, says Kay.
NICU nurses and cuddlers have Kangaroo Care Slings to help them hold babies while attending to other babies on the floor. Keller says, “baby cuddlers are just absolutely essential in providing this kangaroo care in place of what a parent or guardian can provide for their babies.”
Touch is imperative for all babies, especially NICU babies for a number of reasons. Babies spend nine months in a warm, dark environment.
“Any kind of human touch human interaction really sets these babies off for success,” says Keller.
Sources: New York Dept. of Health, University of Utah, March of Dimes, Paediatr Child Health, National Library of Medicine, North Carolina Pregnancy & Opioid Exposure Project, The National Library of Medicine
