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Kangaroo Care Challenge

Skin to skin contact between parents and babies doesn’t just feel good, it’s good for the health of everybody involved.

Shae-Lynn and her daughter Emelia participate in the Kangaroo Challenge in CKHA's Women and Children's Program.
Shae-Lynn and her daughter Emelia participate in the Kangaroo Challenge in CKHA’s Women and Children’s Program.

Clinical Manager of the Women and Children’s department at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Jill Cousins, says so called “Kangaroo Care” is one of the best things for preterm babies.

“It helps baby achieve a better body temperature, it helps with their heart rate, their breathing, their growth, their sugar levels,” Cousins says. “It helps protect newborns from stress and infection and it also helps them be able to feed sooner and sleep better.”

The Health Alliance is competing in a friendly Kangaroo Care challenge until May 15th.

The competition includes other Level 2 NICUs by reporting the number of hours of skin-to-skin care each infant staying in the NICU receives each day, from May 1st to the 15th.