By Spencer Sterritt

No baby unhugged: new program helping Nanaimo newborns thrive

Jan 15, 2018 | 2:39 PM

NANAIMO — A new program at Nanaimo’s hospital hopes to make the stay easier for newborns and also help them develop and grow.

The new volunteer baby hugging program introduced three volunteers to their neonatal intensive care unit who will hug, hold and provide skin-to-skin contact for newborns. This includes the roughly 275 vulnerable babies a year who are cared for by the hospital.

“This hugging program is fulfilling an essential need to ensure babies are receiving the comfort and stimulation they need at a critical period in their young lives,” pediatric unit manager Shauna Karzeil said.

Since Nanaimo Regional General Hospital covers a wide area, Karzeil said they will sometimes care for a newborn who doesn’t always have a guardian around, which is why it’s critical to have someone available to hold them.

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It’s especially important if the baby is born suffering from addictions.

Unfortunately, nearly two-and-a-half month old Isabella was born addicted to heroin, fentanyl and a variety of other substances.

Her grandmonther Gillian said if she hadn’t gone to the hospital every day to hold her granddaughter, the situation could have been much worse.

“When you put them in your arms, they go from distressed and tense and start to relax. You can feel them start to melt right into you. Every day that I would go to hug her, she responded even more.”

Gillian held her for six hours a day in an isolation room, which is quiet and dark to not over stimulate the child.

“I really believe with me coming in every day and hugging her every single day, helped her. To be able to come home with everything she’d been through in five weeks was pretty remarkable,” she said.

Volunteer Alia Johnston, a Grade 10 student, said taking care and holding a child for a few hours helps the newborn but also the parents.

“Some of the babies…need to be rocked, need to be moved and that can be really hard on a parent, especially if it’s a parent that’s not used to it. They’re already dealing with the stress of being in the (unit), not being at home, so they need a breather, maybe to get a coffee quickly.”

Johnston said she’s already seen the impact of being held on a young baby.

“Their vital signs are a lot more stable, they’re a lot calmer and it’s a lot easier on the nurses because if that baby is constantly crying, then another baby is constantly crying.”

Nanaimo Regional General Hospital is the fourth hospital in Canada to have the program and the second on Vancouver Island. It’s part of an initiative by the diaper company Huggies, who also provided a $25,000 grant for more equipment, furniture and training for Nanaimo’s pediatric unit.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit