Warm cuddles nurture premature twins

After a rocky start to their lives, twins born prematurely and underweight will soon experience their first Christmas with their parents.

Baby Aryan and his sister, Arianna Isaacs, were born at 33 weeks, with one being under 2kg and the other just a little over. Both had difficulty breathing and were transferred to the specialised neonatal unit at Netcare Garden City Hospital.

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“These are my first children, and it was very nerve-wracking to be separated from them, as I had to remain in the hospital where I gave birth for another two days after they were transferred to Netcare Garden City Hospital. As soon as I was discharged, I went straight from one hospital to the other to be with my babies – I didn’t even stop off at home,” said mother, NoruhWax. 

“I was so happy to see them,” said their father, Antonio, who was anxious about their precious babies at first. “The doctors and nurses encouraged us to hold them, ensuring that our skin touched our babies’ skin as much as possible as part of their treatment. In my heart, it felt so instinctively good to be so close to my babies.”

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According to Verena Bolton, an experienced neonatal nurse, kangaroo care, named as such because it mimics the close contact of a mother kangaroo carrying her baby in a pouch close to her body, has particular benefits for premature or low-birthweight babies. “Although it is recognised as being valuable for all mothers and babies in appropriate circumstances,” she said.

Bolton said not only does kangaroo care enhance breastfeeding and bonding, it also has physiological benefits. “Just as breastfeeding provides vital biological substances that help to ensure a healthy and normal digestive tract, skin-to-skin care ensures that a newborn baby’s skin matures and develops a healthy microbiome that contributes to the development of a strong immune system.”

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Father Antonio is said to have been hands on from the beginning. “My husband loved the kangaroo care – he thinks it was the best thing ever. With two babies, we wanted them both to have the full benefit of every kangaroo-care session, and so while I was cuddling one baby, daddy would ‘kangaroo’ with the other,” said Nourah.

After three weeks in hospital, including two weeks in the kangaroo-care unit, Aryan and Arianna gained weight and their breathing improved, and they were able to go home for the very first time with their parents.

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“Now it’s 10 months later, and I want to thank the hospital, the doctors and the nurses for looking after our babies so well. The nurses were so involved and handled them with such care that it was like they were our babies’ second family,” added Nourah.

Nourah now looks forward to a big family Christmas that will be memorable one for them all as it will be their first Christmas as parents with twins.

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