Kangaroo care: Newborn-mother bonding technique helps NICU baby grow

(FOX 9) - There’s a special bond between a parent and baby, but for a first time Twin Cities mom, a unique closeness has made all the difference after some health scares for both mother and child. 

For the past three months, Heather Kinney and her newborn daughter Lucy were at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis since the girl was born 14 weeks early weighing less than two pounds. 

A COVID-19 diagnosis six months into heather’s pregnancy changed everything. 

"It came on so fast, on a Tuesday morning, I started not feeling well and by Wednesday morning, I had no taste or smell," she said. "I had a terrible fever. The fever lasted for a week." 

Her unborn baby was feeling the effects, too. Kinney was hospitalized and transferred to Children’s Minnesota. 

"They got down here and, within 90 minutes of being here, they were like, ‘We’ve got to take her.’ Her heartbeat was diminishing. She was sick, too," Kinney said. 

Lucy was delivered at 26 weeks and taken to the NICU at Children’s, but it would be more than a week before Kinney could meet her daughter as she continued to recover from COVID-19. 

Heather Kinney and her daughter Lucy spent many hours in the NICU at Children's Hospital, but thanks to a bonding method called Kangaroo care, Lucy is soon heading home. 

While most of Lucy’s care was left up to the doctors, there was something Kinney could do. 

"Kangaroo Care is really just skin-to-skin, so a parent will hold their baby to their bare chest and typically the baby has a diaper on and you just bond," said Dr. Stacy Kern, a neonatologist at Children’s Minnesota. 

Kinney was all in. She quit her job and spent hours each day holding her baby. 

"Literally lay in a chair for 12 hours," she said. "Sometimes we’ll read books, but she literally lays right here." 

Kern says the method, which isn’t new, but has been recommended recently, can make all the difference in helping preemies and full-term babies. 

"We find that babies who are kangarooed, they often sleep more, they cry less, they gain weight faster, they’re often able to leave the NICU sooner," said Kern. "It’s really important for their development." 

Kern says, for Lucy, it’s meant incredible strides as she’s tripled in weight. 

"I don’t know the last time I saw a baby that was born at 26 weeks breastfeed like Lucy and that’s also been supported by research that babies who are kangarooed often breastfeed longer," said Kern. 

The love Kinney feels for her daughter continues to grow as well. 

"It’s amazing she’s completely changed my world. I knew she was going to change the world I didn’t know it would be mine so much, but the love I have for her is crazy," said Kinney. 

Lucy is set to head home this week where Kinney will continue with the Kangaroo Care.

While there is no set amount of time to do the skin-to-skin sessions, doctors recommend a few hours a day for preemies and an hour or as much time as you are able for full-term babies.