Premies get a warm snuggle

In the October 2010 issue of Oprah, a product designed by Jane Chen is a nifty solution to keeping premature babies warm without the use of an expensive incubator. In some developing countries, the absence of incubators poses a challenge to the health care providers attempting to care for premature and term babies who require specialized care. This little bunting has a hood but most importantly, a heat source that tucks into a pocket of the little sleep sack. The waxlike substance can be melted in hot water and then placed in the pocket to maintain a temperature of 98.6 degrees. Every 4 to 6 hours, the packet can be re-warmed and replaced. The cost is under $100. Apparently families can use these at home. The product will be introduced to India and then China and Africa. Chen hopes it saves the lives of 100,000 babies. It sounds wonderful to me. My only caveat is that the mother is a great heat source, maintaining the perfect skin temperature without any cost or need to renew every few hours. Skin to skin holding also offers many benefits beyond temperature control. The mother should be encouraged to hold her baby on her chest as a first choice of intervention. Maintaining a baby’s normal temperature is one of the MOST important therapies for newborns right up there with recognizing the role of the parent and providing the information for her to do the best for her baby.

Half Baked

“Half Baked” is a memoir written by Alexa Stevenson. The sub-title is an apt description of the book: “The Story of my nerves, my newborn, and how we both learned to breathe”.  The author took me intimately into her experiences with assisted fertility, prematurity and all its attendant crises. As a NICU nurse, I found it to be a real page turner. I would recommend it to all NICU staff, as it portrays what we know so well as our routine, from the importantly different perspective of one mother. What a privilege and responsibility to walk that road with a family! It uplifts in that it shows us the subtle movement one makes in personal evolution as we face and cope with crisis.

The Chinese character for the word crisis is a double symbol, uniting “danger” with “opportunity”. So true.