This month marks International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day (May 15th, 2021), a global initiative to raise awareness and highlight the physiological and psychological benefits of kangaroo care, also known as skin-to-skin contact.
This Kangaroo Care Awareness Day, WaterWipes have developed a video with Dr Susan Ludington, Professor of Paediatric Nursing, showcasing the immediate benefits of skin-to skin contact on babies.
We are also proud to be collaborating with a number of organisations, hospitals, healthcare professionals and charities across the globe to celebrate the day, encourage skin-to-skin contact and further highlight its benefits.
UAE
In the UAE, we have partnered with a local healthcare professional to raise awareness on Kangaroo Care and highlight the benefits of practicing skin-to-skin contact amongst new parents. To learn more about this, follow the WaterWipes Middle East Instagram channel .
Australia
WaterWipes is delighted to be collaborating with the Miracle Babies Foundation, Australia’s leading organisation supporting premature or sick newborns and the hospitals that care for them.
We will be supporting Miracle Babies with their annual Kangaroo-a-thon, an initiative that raises awareness of the importance of Kangaroo care and encourages hospitals to ‘compete’ against each other in achieving the most Kangaroo care hours between 15th – 29th May. This includes skin-to-skin contact and all forms of Kangaroo holding (including modified holding for vulnerable NICU babies) in the two-week period.
The winning hospital will receive a Kangaroo care chair, sponsored for and proudly donated by WaterWipes, to encourage parents to kangaroo their babies all year round.
Check out the Kangaroo-a-thon page to get your hospital unit involved.
USA
Across the USA, we’re encouraging all healthcare professionals to join in our Kangaroo care social challenge. We want to hear how you make skin-to-skin contact a priority in your unit or department, and how you encourage new parents to practice it.
To join in, share an image of Kangaroo care in action at your practice, unit or hospital, tag @WaterWipesUsa and use the hashtag #ThisIsKangarooCare. The winning entry will receive WaterWipes samples and goodies for their entire unit.
UK and Ireland
In the UK, we have partnered with midwife and author Marie-Louise to help advise healthcare professionals on how they can best support new parents in continuing to practice skin-to-skin contact amid the COVID-19 restrictions. To learn more about how you can reassure parents during the pandemic and encourage them to kangaroo their baby safely, check out Marie’s tips .
In Ireland, we are working with the Irish Midwives and Nurses Organisation (INMO) and Midwife and Childbirth Educator Avril Flynn , to highlight the benefits of Kangaroo care to healthcare professionals. Discover more about the fundamental science and research behind the benefits of skin-to-skin for both mother and baby by reading Avril’s expert advice.
France
In France we will be hosting an Instagram live in May with neonatal nurse Alexia-Puéricultrice . For healthcare professionals interested in joining the Q&A and learning more about the positive effects of skin-to-skin for preterm infants, follow the WaterWipes France Instagram channel.
About WaterWipes: WaterWipes are made with just two ingredients; 99.9% high purity water and a drop of fruit extract, and have been validated by the Skin Health Alliance as being purer than cotton wool and water.