November is Prematurity Awareness Month
Imagine your baby resting against your chest, feeling your warmth, hearing your heartbeat, and settling into the familiar rhythm of your breathing. Sometimes, connection begins with the simplest things: closeness, warmth, and a little time together. For families welcoming a premature baby, these moments can be especially meaningful, even when the journey starts in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
November is Prematurity Awareness Month, a time to recognize babies born too soon and support the families navigating an unexpected start to parenthood. For breastfeeding and postpartum mothers, it’s also an opportunity to learn how skin-to-skin care can nurture bonding, support feeding, and make room for connection amid the beeps, monitors, and unfamiliar routines of NICU life.
What Is Kangaroo Care?
Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is an evidence-based approach to caring for premature and low-birth-weight babies. It combines prolonged skin-to-skin contact with breast milk feeding as part of the baby’s ongoing care. During skin-to-skin contact, a baby is positioned upright against a parent’s bare chest, with secure support and appropriate monitoring.
While skin-to-skin contact refers specifically to physical closeness, KMC is a broader approach that incorporates this contact and breast milk feeding into the baby’s care plan.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), KMC is recommended as routine care for preterm and low-birth-weight infants, with appropriate clinical assessment, support, and monitoring. It complements essential medical treatment and other necessary NICU interventions but does not replace them. The timing, positioning, and duration of KMC should follow the infant’s clinical needs and the care team’s guidance.
3 Ways Skin-to-Skin Care Supports Premature Babies
1. Helps with temperature regulation
Premature babies may have more difficulty maintaining their body temperature than babies born at term. Close skin-to-skin contact allows babies to receive warmth from a caregiver’s body, helping support temperature regulation.
However, premature babies may still require medical monitoring and specialized equipment, such as incubators or warmers, depending on their condition.
2. Encourages bonding and connection
A NICU stay can look different from the postpartum experience you imagined. Instead of unlimited cuddles, you may be learning how to navigate visiting routines, medical equipment, and brief moments of holding.
When your baby is ready for skin-to-skin care, that closeness can offer a meaningful way to connect. Your warmth, touch, and familiar voice can help create opportunities for comfort and bonding.
Remember, bonding doesn’t follow a stopwatch. If you can’t hold your baby right away, it doesn’t mean you’ve missed your chance to build a beautiful connection.
3. Supports breast milk production and feeding readiness
For mothers who hope to breastfeed, skin-to-skin contact can be a helpful part of the feeding journey. According to WHO, kangaroo mother care supports breast milk feeding, while skin-to-skin contact may help mothers establish and maintain their milk supply.
Premature babies may need time to develop the coordination required to suck, swallow, and breathe during feeds. While your little one grows stronger, expressing breast milk with a pump or by hand may help establish and maintain your supply.
Skin-to-skin time can also give you opportunities to notice early feeding cues and work with your lactation consultant and NICU team on the next steps. Some babies may begin feeding at the breast sooner than others, and each baby’s progress will be different. Every feeding journey has its own rhythm.
How to Make Skin-to-Skin Time Work for Your Family
If your baby is in the NICU, here are a few gentle ways to get started:
- Ask your care team when it’s safe. Your baby may need specific monitoring, positioning, or medical support before and during skin-to-skin contact.
- Take it one step at a time. Your first session may be short or longer, depending on your baby’s needs. Let your NICU team guide you on duration and frequency.
- Bring your feeding questions. Ask a lactation consultant about pumping, milk storage, supply support, and how to transition toward breastfeeding when your baby is ready.
- Let loved ones support you, too. If you’re recovering from birth or feeling overwhelmed, a partner or trusted family member may be able to offer support while you rest. Your care team can advise whether another caregiver can provide skin-to-skin contact.
- Celebrate the little things. A first cuddle, a few drops of expressed milk, or learning your baby’s cues can all be meaningful milestones.
A Small Baby, a Big Picture: Why This Matters
The WHO’s 2025 World Prematurity Day campaign shared the slogan “Give preterm babies a strong start for a hopeful future.” This message is a gentle reminder that every premature baby deserves care tailored to their needs, along with the opportunity to grow, develop, and thrive.
For breastfeeding and postpartum mothers, a strong start can look different for every family. It might mean learning to express breast milk while your baby receives NICU care, having your first skin-to-skin cuddle when your little one is ready, or working with a lactation consultant to explore breastfeeding at your baby’s pace. These moments may seem small, but they can be meaningful steps along the way.
You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone
Premature birth can bring a mix of emotions, and breastfeeding may not unfold as you expected. You can love your baby deeply and still feel exhausted, uncertain, or overwhelmed. Those feelings can coexist, so remember to give yourself grace during this time.
A hopeful future doesn’t require a perfect beginning. Sometimes, a strong start is built one gentle touch, one feeding milestone, and one supported moment at a time.
This Prematurity Awareness Month, let’s help more families understand the importance of skin-to-skin care and the support available to them. Share this article with an expecting parent, a NICU family, or someone who could benefit from learning more.
