birth activist

I found this article on WebMD today;

Cuddling Cuts Preemie Pain
Kangaroo Mother Care Helps Very Preterm Infants Get Over Pain Faster

Some quotes from the article;

"It works in premature infants of 32 to 36 weeks' gestation, according to an earlier study by Celeste Johnston, DEd, RN, and colleagues at McGill University School of Nursing. But can it work in babies born as early as 28 weeks' gestation? The answer is a qualified yes, Johnston and colleagues now find."

"Kangaroo mother care was invented in 1978 by Colombian pediatrician Edgar Rey. Faced with a shortage of incubators, Rey found that mothers could use their own bodies to warm premature infants. Years of study show the technique to be at least as safe and effective as incubators, and it lessens mothers' anxiety while promoting mother/infant bonding and breastfeeding."

"The technique calls for the tiny child to be held upright between the mothers' breasts and covered with a blanket. Because the child must be held upright against warm skin 24 hours a day, mothers can share kangaroo care with fathers and others."

"More importantly, the very preterm babies recovered from the painful heelstick about a minute faster when held kangaroo-style than when left in the incubator. That's a sign the babies' bodies are beginning to self-regulate, a process known as homeostasis."

"'Mothers should be offered kangaroo mother care as neonatal intensive-care unit policy, not only to be close to their infant, but also to provide comfort,' they add."

If kangaroo care, or skin to skin contact, helps reduce preemie pain, wouldn't it help reduce the pain or discomfort of full term infants as well? If it "lessens mothers' anxiety while promoting mother/infant bonding and breastfeeding", wouldn't the same benefits be seen with full term infants? If kangaroo care becomes "neonatal intensive-care policy", why shouldn't it also become the policy in the regular labor and delivery unit?