The Huggies No Baby Unhugged programme is awarding seven US$10,000 grants to help support or establish volunteer hugging programmes in hospitals across the US. Hugging programmes train volunteers to administer the soothing and healing power of touch to babies who are premature or medically fragile, with the goal of improving long-term health outcomes.
“The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be a place of uncertainty, and parents may often feel overwhelmed by responsibilities outside of the hospital that keep them from being with their baby 24/7,” says Kristin Carnall of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. “Numerous studies show the positive benefits of holding, rocking and soothing on infant weight gain, stress reduction, vital sign stabilisation, improved sleep and future language development. We are incredibly grateful to have received the No Baby Unhugged grant to support our NICU families in providing a comfortable, encouraging, intentional space for parents to deliver skin-to-skin care to their infants.”
The seven hospitals receiving grants this September include:
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston – Atlanta, GA
- Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin at Fox Valley – Neenah, WI
- John Muir Health, Walnut Creek Medical Center – Walnut Creek, CA
- Palm Beach Children’s Hospital at St Mary’s Medical Center – West Palm Beach, FL
- Sanford Medical Center Fargo – Fargo, ND
- St. John’s Regional Medical Center – Oxnard, CA
- University of Maryland Children's Hospital – Baltimore, MD
