Arrowhead Regional Medical Center’s (ARMC) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) participated in the Sixth Annual Kangaroo Challenge that took place through May 15. This international Kangaroo-a-Thon spotlights the benefits of Kangaroo Care (KC) for infants and their parents, while encouraging NICU staff members to adopt KC for premature infants.
During kangaroo care, babies are placed skin-to-skin on the bare chest of the mother or father, similar to how kangaroos carry their young. Kangaroo care helps to stabilize a newborn’s heart rate, and promotes brain development and weight gain. For the KC challenge, the number of times babies in the unit were held each day was logged and the competition winners were announced at the conclusion of the challenge.
NICUs who have participated in the past are encouraged to invite other units who have not yet participated, into the competition. This year, ARMC was challenged by Riverside University Health System’s NICU.
“We are so excited to join this fun competition, and thrilled to step up to the challenge!” said NICU Clinical Nurse Specialist, Aida Rodriguez. “This is such a wonderful way to offer educational awareness about the importance of touch and holding for preemies, as well as newborns in general.”
ARMC held a kick-off party on May 1 for parents and staff, and provided KC educational materials throughout the Kangaroo-a-Thon.