title: Holding the very low birth weight infant: skin-to-skin techniques.
abstract: Skin-to-skin holding has been reported as a valuable intervention for preterm infants for over a decade. However, many neonatal intensive care units are not practicing this therapy and cite lack of protocols and techniques as a barrier. This article describes in detail the nursing considerations and techniques involved to successfully implement skin-to-skin holding for very low birth weight, technology-dependent infants. NICU protocols can be derived from this article.
authors.affiliation: Memorial Hospital, NICU, Colorado Springs, USA. terkled@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kledzik
mesh_terms: D006234:Handling, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011187:Posture; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011368:Professional-Family Relations