I have an idea for
a research study: “The effects of skin-to-skin contact on withdrawal symptoms
in drug- addicted newborns”. Sound good? I think so. This article makes
a good case too. Unfortunately, many pediatric workers do not agree.
Drug-addicted babies are often isolated from the rest of the NICU, caregivers
are advised that minimal stimulation is best for their fragile nervous systems,
and the poor little guys are pretty miserable. We know that skin-to-skin helps
to establish early breastfeeding (and increases duration) and also helps
regulate temperature, oxygen sats, and heart rate. These things are
likely out of sorts in babies in withdrawal, so why not encourage skin-to
-skin? Is it because parents are not to be trusted? They abused drugs, so
they shouldn't hold their newborns? There are obvious cases in which
the parents are MIA, but volunteers can take off their shirts for a good cause,
right?
Gabrielle Hathaway, MS, IBCLC
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