Back in the days, when we started Mamagoló, our mission was making the world a better place for moms and babies everywhere. As we grew, we wanted to find more and better ways to help mothers care for their babies, from the moment they are born.
When we found out about the benefits of Kangaroo Care and started researching it, we knew it was a cause that deserved more awareness, since it encourages nature's most important bond, immediately after birth, and benefits both mom and baby.
Let's see what Kangaroo Care is about and why it is so effective, especially for premature babies.
What is Kangaroo Care?
Kangaroo Care provides closeness of the newborn baby with mommy, by placing the infant after birth in a fetal position, with maximal skin-to-skin contact with the mother. The baby is secured with a special shirt, that goes around the naked torso of the mommy, providing the baby with proper support and positioning.
While this model of infant care is different from the typical Western neonatal intensive-care units and hasn't yet been embraced by hospitals in Europe as a mainstream procedure, studies show that Kangaroo Care has proven to have multiple beneficial effects, especially for premature, low-weight babies, who reportedly developed more rapidly, thanks to skin-to-skin contact with mommy.
Since mother is the only one who can breastfeed, she should be the primary provider of skin-to-skin contact. However, since skin-to-skin contact is basic to early bonding and attachment, in countries that have embraced this type of infant care, fathers or other family members spend skin-on-skin time with babies.
What are the benefits of Kangaroo Care?
Special stretchy wrap and shirt we offered for Kangaroo Care in Hungary
The World Health Organization reports that in addition to more successful breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn baby immediately after delivery also reduces crying, improves mother to infant interaction, and keeps baby warm.
Most of the Kangaroo Care benefits come so naturally, that we oftenly ask ourselves how come this hasn't become mainstream practice yet. Kangaroo Care connects that special something only moms can give to their babies:
Because of the closeness to the mother's chest, the baby has a stable heart rate, more regular breathing, improved oxygen saturation levels;
Skin-to-skin contact saves baby caloric energy and reduces cold stress and the risk of hypothermia;
Hearing, touching and smelling mommy will induce a feeling of safety and lead to longer periods of sleep, more rapid weight gain, more rapid brain development and decreased crying;
A better chance of successful breastfeeding - Kangaroo Care can also improve a mother's breast milk production
The intimacy of Kangaroo Care has also amazing benefits for parents, as it builds confidence and reduces post-natal stress
How does Mamagoló help raise awareness?
The special stretchy shirt we designed for Kangaroo Care
First of all, we wanna make sure that soon-to-be mommies learn about Kangaroo Care and feel more hopeful and in control of their babies' health, by providing closeness and intimate love that only a mother could, especially if they are born prematurely.
Going further into this matter, we designed a special Kangaroo Care stretchy cotton shirt, with short sleeves, that helps wearing the newborn and holding him safely while providing skin-to-skin contact.
We offered the Mamagoló special shirt to the neonatology sections of the hospitals that embraced Kangaroo Care and we witnessed the amazing healing power of a mother's love.
So our call-to-action goes to all hospitals that wanna provide Kangaroo Care assistance: our stretchy cotton shirts are available for free. Contact us and let's help premature babies get better sooner. :)