title: Skin-to-skin (kangaroo) holding of the intubated premature infant.
abstract: Skin-to-skin holding has been reported to be a useful technique for helping mothers feel close to their nonintubated infants hospitalized in the NICU. This article describes our experience with skin-to-skin holding of 25 intubated infants in the NICU. We found this technique was safe for the intubated infant and promoted parental attachment, even in parents who were at high risk for attachment impairments. Our experience suggests that skin-to-skin holding with small intubated infants may offer some parents an effective method to overcome some of the barriers to attachment imposed by the infant's hospitalization. In addition, our observations raise several questions regarding parent-infant interaction.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Franck
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lund
mesh_terms: D001831:Body Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000451:nursing*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents