In a comprehensive review of its policy advocating the use of incubators, the World Health Organization announced Tuesday that skin-to-skin contact plays a key role in improving survival. premature babies And the young survive.
The new guidelines represent a major shift in the way the United Nations health agency recommends intensive care for newborns, according to AFP.
close contact
The organization also said that the new guidelines for how to deal with children born before the thirty-seventh week of pregnancy or weighing less than 2.5 kilograms apply in all circumstances.
She also added that immediate skin-to-skin contact should be provided “even for babies with breathing difficulties,” stressing that “they also need close contact with their mother from birth.”
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improve chances of survival
In the context, the medical officer of the organization and pediatrician Karen Edmond indicated to reporters in Geneva that allowing mothers or other caregivers to stay close with premature babies Right from the start, without separation, it enhances these children’s chances of survival.
“The first embrace with a parent is not only emotionally important, but it is also critical to improving the chances of survival and health outcomes for young and premature babies,” she explained.
is a must
She also stressed that it was important to keep “the child in direct skin-to-skin contact 24/7 even if the child needs intensive care.”
While pointing out that “parental leave is a must to help families take care of the infant.”
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‘Urgent public health issue’
It is noteworthy that the World Health Organization had previously recommended that newborns weighing less than two kilograms at birth should be placed in incubators.
The organization describes premature births as an “urgent public health issue”, with 15 million babies born prematurely each year, representing one in 10 births.
11 new recommendations
With its update Tuesday, the UN agency made 25 recommendations on the care of premature babies, including 11 new recommendations since its last update in 2015. The guidance covers, among other things, primary care and caring for premature infants during illness, and stresses the importance of breastfeeding these babies.
For the first time ever, the guidelines also include recommendations for family communication, including a call for intensive care units to be set up to allow mother and baby to stay together.
The guidelines also suggest, for the first time, increasing emotional and financial support for caregivers of premature babies.
