Within the framework of World Prematurity Day, which is commemorated every November 17, the «Prematurity Week» is also taken, in 2022 from the 14th to the 17th of the same month to raise awareness about the care of these children and their families. This year the theme is «The embrace of the family, a powerful therapy».
The International Prematurity Week is an initiative of UNICEF to which the most important scientific societies in the world adhere.It is a date that you want to highlight the high risk of mortality that preterm births can have.
While November 17 is recognized as the World Day of the Preterm Child as an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to give visibility to this problem, raise awareness about the needs and rights of premature babies and their families, raise awareness about the importance of experience and quality care from the health system and, Thus, advance in policies that guarantee the full rights of both babies and families.
Early birth in a premature birth can have multiple origins: from maternal causes (gestational diabetes, hypertension, eclampsia, bleeding before childbirth); Causes of the baby (growth problems in the intrauterine stage, genetics) or problems in the placenta (abnormal development of the same or with certain pathologies).In these cases, the perinatal team (obstetricians and neonatologists) will make the decision about the timing of the birth that is beneficial for that baby and its mother.
The importance of skin-to-skin contact
Just as Prematurity Week has the motto «The embrace of the family, a powerful therapy», the theme chosen by the WHO for November 17 is to promote skin-to-skin contact, which proved to be an extremely beneficial and effective practice, Especially important in the case of premature babies.
Initiated immediately after birth, this contact contributes to the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding, favors the stabilization of vital parameters such as heart rate and blood glucose levels, and helps the installation of a healthy microbiota, aspects of importance both in the process of adaptation to life outside the womb after birth and in the medium and long term.
In addition, it helps your relaxation and deep sleep.Whenever clinical stability allows, skin-to-skin contact in premature infants is critical for a healthy and sensitive experience.
It is essential that health teams know the available evidence about the multiple benefits that this practice entails for the baby and for families, and that they commit and favor the appropriate conditions so that skin-to-skin care can be given optimally.
Likewise, it is necessary to continue working with families to accompany and guide in the appropriate care for babies born prematurely.
Messages on the benefit of skin-to-skin contact
Preterm infants are entitled to beneficial immediate skin-to-skin contact with their mother as are full-term babies. Even when they require intensive care, if their clinical stability allows it.
•Mothers of young, sick or premature children should be accompanied and supported so that they can breastfeed as soon as possible.Human milk banks are another alternative to consider in these cases.
•The sensory stimulus generated by skin-to-skin contact in premature infants is essential for loving and sensitive care, key to their development. It is linked to emotions and memory, favors the secretion of oxytocin and enhances attachment.
Skin-to-skin contact is important for premature babies as it lays the foundation for the baby’s best development.
•The skin-to-skin contact of the premature baby, admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, with his mother, favors the mother’s milk production and the baby’s initiative for sucking, which is achieved more efficiently and quickly.
•Skin-to-skin contact, family-centered model of care, and breast milk supply empower mothers in caring for their premature baby.The first few hours and days are crucial for providing support and establishing breastfeeding.
Source — https://www.intramed.net/102598