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Academic OB/GYN Podcast Episode 24 – The Preemie Primer and Reproductive Infectious Disease Part 2
In this episode we talk to Dr Jennifer Gunter about her new book “The Preemie Primer”. I also pick Dr Gunter’s brain about some difficult problems in reproductive infectious disease. 
Academic OB/GYN Podcast Episode 24 – The Preemie Primer and Reproductive Infectious Disease Part 2
Categories: Academic OB/GYN Podcast, Obstetrics
Academic OB/GYN 
Thanks for this podcast – We are so lucky to have the technology and medicine to ensure the best possible outcomes for these babies. However, I also think we need to move towards an evidence based approach to prem care. Dr Bergman has developed and researched ‘kangaroo mother care’ http://bit.ly/a4iwAY. Even for extremely premature babies who are being ventilated this care improves outcomes. In comparison to an incubator, a baby in skin-to-skin contact with his mother has better temp maintenance, heart rate/bp stabilisation, food absorption, improved breathing and oxygenation…
During a teaching trip to Nauru myself and a colleague shared this info with the local hospital and recommended buying wraps (for use in kangaroo care) rather than incubators. Much cheaper and more effective.
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I’m looking forward to listening to it as well. My TTTS twins were born @ 34w and despite not having respiratory problems or jaundice, I was still discouraged at the NICU from using kangaroo mother care and they weren’t at all supportive of my desire to breastfeed. It was a huge disappointment. I found myself smiling and nodding and complying with everything simply in an effort to get them home sooner so I could wear them & nurse them.
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I hear this over and over from mothers. It seems that once your baby requires some medical support they become property of the hospital. Babies and mothers do so much better when nursed together. The physiological benefits have been demonstrated by research but the psychological benefits are also likely to be huge. I wonder if the association between autism and prem birth is to do with this interruption in the oxytocin release during the early days/weeks (just a thought). As for the notion that a mother will ‘stress’ her baby by providing physical comfort – this is ridiculous (@Dr Gunter). Quite the opposite. Taking a baby who has been ‘held’ inside his mother for x months, then putting him in a plastic box where the only touch he gets is invasive procedures = stress. Let’s humanise the care of prem babies.
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This is interesting to me- my sister and I were preemie twins born at 31 weeks- my mother insisted on breastfeeding, though, and for that I am very grateful. While we were in the NICU she pumped for us.
She mentioned to me yesterday how happy my daughter is (born unmedicated full-term) and said that my sister and I just weren’t happy babies. She always attributed it to our long stay in the NICU- she felt that we were insecure because we had been so isolated when we were just born. I wonder if this is just her experience or the experience of other parents as well, especially those that aren’t allowed kangaroo care with their preemie baby.
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Thanks for inviting me on the show!
Surprised to hear that milkstained was discouraged from kangaroo care, every neonatologist I have spoken too encourages it. We did skin to skin while babies were on vents. Only realy reason you can’t is if they bradycardia or desat when touched. Hope my book will empower moms and dads to speak up!
Dr. Jen
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Article is very nicely written, and never forgetting to mention that it can be very informative as well. Kudos to you towards the excellent task nicely completed there!
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