By Natasha Records

UK Hospital is the first in Lexington to adopt a technique called kangaroo care, which focuses on “skin-to-skin” contact between mothers and infants.

“We want to be as progressive as possible,” said Gaye Whalen, coordinator for the lactation department at UK HealthCare. “And with the kangaroo care, it’s a stabilized environment and facilitates a bond with the parents and baby.”

The basic concept of kangaroo care involves immediately placing a newborn chest down on the mother or father’s bare chest, which generates a warm feeling and provides access to breastfeeding for the mother.

Whalen said she’s not sure why other hospitals haven’t used this technique.

“The mothers really like the calming effect that kangaroo care has on both them and their babies,” she said.

Staff at the University of Louisville Hospital launched the kangaroo care program in 2007 and a significant increase in breastfeeding rates resulted among women who gave birth there, according to a news release.

In 2011, the Kentucky Women, Infants and Children Program partnered with UofL to create and implement a series of statewide trainings for the rest of the state’s birthing hospitals.

UK was invited by the state along with other hospitals around Lexington.

The hospital brought eight people to the training program and after the state meeting, the hospital had a mandatory staff meeting to implement kangaroo care, Whalen said.

UK chose to take on this technique because it believes it is much more relaxing for the family, as well as for the nurses.

“The training for this technique isn’t as involved,” Whalen said. “Instead the nurses are able to do their assessment right there while the baby is on the mom, and that makes it a much easier process.”

Previously, babies went through a process known as “the warmer,” which consisted of many evaluations before contact with the mother.

“This is much better than taking the baby away from mom,” Whalen said. “I feel like there is absolutely no reason as to why the initial assessment can’t be performed while mom is bonding with the baby.”

Kimberly Garrett, a nursing junior, said she thinks the technique is beneficial for the family.

“This is a very good practice that needs to be implemented in more hospitals,” Garrett said. “I think that it is super important for the mom and dad to be able to have that initial bonding period with the baby.”

Rebecca Dekker, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing, said she wishes she would have had kangaroo care when giving birth to her daughter.

“I had a lot of elective medical interventions at that birth — epidural, IV fluids, Pitocin, continuous fetal monitoring,” she said. “These interventions made my birth more complicated.”

However, she used kangaroo care during the home birth of her son.

“It was the most amazing experience,” she said.

Whalen said advancing in this technique is what UK aims for.

“The kangaroo care creates more of a natural and stabilized process,” Whalen said. “So far all moms do very well with this and the babies as well do too. They cry less, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”