Kangaroo or Skin-to-Skin mother Care Impacts Maternal and Infant Health

Alaina Nickerl, a student at Georgia State University, has always loved babies.

“As the oldest grandchild, I was always in the hospital when my cousins and younger siblings were born, and I’ve always just wanted to work with babies,” she said.

Each time she walked into the hospital, an overwhelming feeling of joy and peace would come over her. This led her to pursue a doctorate degree in occupational therapy, with the goal to work in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where babies stay when they need extra care after birth, especially if they are born prematurely.

Last year, Nickerl, who is in the Canton Ward in the Marietta Georgia Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, learned about the Relief Society’s global initiative for women and children. One of its objectives is maternal and newborn care.

In her studies, Nickerl had been learning about kangaroo mother care and its benefits for both mothers and newborns. The Relief Society’s global initiative resonated with Nickerel — particularly the aim of reducing maternal and infant mortality and increasing positive maternal experiences.

“As kangaroo mother care or skin-to-skin contact is an intervention that can simultaneously address all of these areas of concern, I have decided to focus my capstone project in my doctoral program on kangaroo mother care,” she said.

This care is an extremely effective intervention that improves outcomes for both babies and mothers. Babies wearing only a diaper are placed directly on the mother’s skin of her chest, with coverings then placed on top of both. This contact maintains temperature, lowers stress, regulates hormones, increases connection, promotes breastfeeding, improves sleep and many other benefits. But it is not always implemented in NICUs as a standard of care.

Nickerl explained that approximately 15 million babies are born prematurely every year worldwide, and annually about 1 in 10 babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. Premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 5.

In her capstone project, Nickerl is focused particularly on Atlanta, Georgia, where she now lives, because Georgia’s preterm birth rate, low birth weight rate and infant mortality rate are all higher than the national average.

She hopes to create an educational program so people are more aware of the benefits of kangaroo mother care or skin-to-skin contact.

“For all NICU babies, even very fragile ones, it’s been shown that it helps them,” Nickerl said. “It doesn’t hinder them in any way.”

Babies might be in an incubator connected to several machines with tubes and IVs. But NICU staff can safely transfer the baby to the mother’s chest.

The main benefit is bonding, “which can be really important, especially in the NICU, which can be a traumatic situation when a birth doesn’t go the way that you planned, and then all of a sudden your baby is in the NICU and you’re separated.”

Nickerl is working with two NICU occupational therapists and a faculty advisor. Soon she will begin her clinical rotation in the NICU. In the coming months she will be speaking with expectant mothers and NICU staff in the area. Then her project will be implemented next year.

“If women can go in feeling confident about the benefits of kangaroo care, that they want to do it, and how to go about it, then they can kind of advocate for themselves,” she said.

While she does not have children yet, she has been grateful for the opportunity to learn more about motherhood through this project. She and her husband serve as Sunday School teachers in their ward for the 11- and 12-year-olds.

Her research has felt very spiritual to her. What she has learned makes sense to her because of what she knows about Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation: “Reading the science about it and really learning our bodies are created to do these things,” Nickerl said.

And, she said, the gospel of Jesus Christ has taught her to seek to help others around her, which is what this project aims to do.

All are invited to take part in the Relief Society’s global initiative by serving in their own spheres. Find 25 ways in this article to begin thinking about the kinds of things that can be done in a home, neighborhood or community to meet the needs of women and children.