Positive, supportive touch for premature babies

Touch is the first sense your baby develops, starting at week 7 of pregnancy. At birth, touch continues to play an important role in how infants understand the world and is the basis for proper development of communication, learning, self-regulation and social interaction. Its role is also crucial in the process of connecting your baby with its parents. At birth, premature babies are often separated from their parents, and their treatment continues in neonatal intensive care units for multidisciplinary and specialized treatment. Although your baby requires both medical care and care in general, you as parents are a vital part of your baby's life, and the communication between you takes place from your first encounter in the neonatology department.

What can you do to help your baby?

It is a question that you have been asking yourself and your healthcare providers since you first came in contact with your baby. Premature babies, with their delicate skin at birth, are very sensitive to touch, and you might be worried about whether your baby will enjoy being touched. As parents, you might hesitate and lack the confidence to touch your baby. Our recommendation is that your first step is to observe your baby; by observing, you get to know it and its behaviour. Talk to your baby with a gentle voice,  because your voice is the only one it recognizes. Following that comes the first touch. The nurses will instruct you how to best touch your baby at any given time in accordance with the baby's health condition and age. 

The main goal is to provide a positive experience for both your baby and you. In order to prepare for the first meeting and touch with your baby:

• Wash your hands and warm them by rubbing your palms together.
• Gently open the door of the incubator and approach your baby, speaking with a soft voice.
• Start touching your baby with something as simple as placing your finger in its hand - you will see that your baby will hold it tight. You can also cup both of your baby's feet with your hands. In this way, you will let the baby know that you are there and help calm it down. These touches seem small, but they are the best way to start and are easily accepted by premature babies and babies with health problems.
• Observe your baby's behaviour and let it get used to you and calm down.
• Excessive stimulation can be unpleasant for your baby - it might result in its crying, stirring, and stretching its arms and legs. Stop and give it time to calm down.
• For premature babies it is advised to avoid caressing, patting or stroking the skin with your fingertips as it can upset them. Over time, as their skin matures, it becomes less sensitive, and this can become a pleasant experience for them.
• Even when your baby's health is delicate, you can apply, with instruction, a positive, supportive touch to your baby. It involves covering your baby's head, feet or whole body with calm hands and gentle pressure, without caressing. This touch provides positive tactile stimulation and is comforting and soothing for your child. You can also apply a positive touch with four hands when both parents embrace the baby's body.
• When you stop touching your baby, slowly withdraw your hands, watching your baby's reaction.

Relax and enjoy being with your baby, watch its behaviour, and the reward for both of you will be holding the baby for the first time.

Get ready to hold your baby for the first time

The first opportunity to hold your baby in your arms will depend on its health condition as well as on the expert's assessment of your and your baby's readiness for it. Health professionals will tell you how to first hold your baby. In neonatology institutions, this care is called kangaroo mother care or skin-to-skin contact. You will be advised to apply it as often and for as long as possible, and to involve both parents. All types of touch, which represent positive sensory experiences, have a big impact on both your baby and you, the parents. For your baby, some of the most important advantages are the stabilization of vital signs, achieving restful sleep, faster recovery, reducing the length of stay in the hospital, and proper sensorimotor development. For parents, touch is important because it can increase your confidence regarding care of your child and also helps to regulate hormones. During touch and contact, oxytocin, which is also known as the love hormone, is released, contributing to greater attachment to the child and facilitating the connection between the child and the parents. After the baby is transferred from the intensive care unit to other wards, massaging it, which it can also enjoy, can be considered. Positive, supportive touch is a tool by which you as parents can learn more about your baby and is also a means of communication between you. Sometimes just putting your hand on your baby's tummy and looking at each other is all you need at that moment.