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Cuddling Babies: Hospital Volunteers Show the Power of Human Touch
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of ABC News
Posted: May 5th, 2014
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/03/cuddling-babie...
The neonatal intensive care unit [NICU] is full of buzzers, bells and the steady hum of technology. The machines that line the rooms are safeguarding the most fragile human lives. How reassuring ... is the sound of a friendly voice? The look of a friendly face? Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit cling to moments like that, but sometimes parents and nurses cant be there to offer the constant reassurance. Thats where Pat Rice comes in. He is a volunteer cuddler at the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford. He and his wife, Claire Fitzgerald, have been cuddling babies there for 16 years. His deep voice helps soothe the babies. He joked someone once told him it sounded like a tuba. Apparently the voice helps make a difference. I dont know why, said Rice. But I find that it works pretty well. The nurses said that the cuddles have an immediate impact for these infants. It can even be measured. Their blood oxygenation starts to climb, meaning the baby is relaxed and is breathing deeper. The doctors say cuddling leads to better tolerance of pain, more stable body temperature and even stronger vital signs. Fitzgerald and Rice said they often comfort parents whose babies are admitted to the NICU because they can share stories about all the babies they have cuddled who are now home and thriving. Rice said that at his granddaughters soccer game recently, a little girl came up to him and gave him a big hug it was a child he had once cuddled in the hospital.
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