‘Mama and I’ neonatologists celebrate World Kangaroo Care Day with excellent results and healthy babies

The birth of every child is a period filled with anxious anticipation and excitement. But when a newborn is one of around 6,500 premature babies born in Bulgaria each year, staying in intensive care is a huge emotional challenge for the whole family. Parents often feel confused and frightened by the long hospital stay. Kangaroo care plays a key role in these moments.

Originating in 1970 in Bogotá, Colombia, it has seen a rapid rise and is gaining popularity among modern professionals. Kangaroo care is a globally recognized practice through which contact is made between parents and the newborn admitted to an intensive neonatal care unit. Through numerous studies, it has been established that mother-baby (or dad-baby) contact is not just a hug, but a set of multiple beneficial effects that follow from these contacts.

Since the opening of our newest maternal and child health clinic ‘Mama and I’ one year ago, a dedicated kangaroo room has existed in the neonatology department – an integral part of the holistic care we aim to provide to our young patients and their parents. Once premature (and sometimes “normally” delivered) newborns are removed from the intensive highly specialized environment, a kangaroo room is provided for parents. It is useful for both the baby and the parents, who are given the chance to be part of the hospital stay and actively participate in their child’s upbringing.

Here, through the advice and practices of the medical professionals, not only are parents educated in the care of their children, but a strong and meaningful bond is built, often practicing the kangaroo-contact right down to the couch itself. On a daily basis, the midwives and doctors help the mother with advice related to breastfeeding, daily toileting and individual features related to the child’s condition. We welcome and encourage the equal participation of both parents as a unit, and increasingly actively involve the dad in the overall care of both premature and term babies.

The Kangaroo Corner of ‘ Mama and I’ implements world-renowned recommendations and builds confident and calm parents who will provide better quality care for their children. In this room we have successfully completed the diagnostic and treatment process and care for the youngest patients born with us and in Bulgaria in general – Sashko weighing 630 grams, Petya weighing only 600 grams, Rayan…. and many other children who are now healthy and with their parents.