Meir Medical Center's prenatal care ward is the first in the country to offer ‘Four Hands’ care to parents of premature babies, a press release on behalf of the Clalit affiliated medical center reported on Monday.
With proper training and guidance, parents of premature babies are now able to participate in the washing, feeding, and medical care their babies require to survive the difficult experience of being born early. This offers the parents a chance to emotionally connect to new-born who are often placed in life-protecting, but restrictive, environments and sooths who are now touched and stroked and not just poked and prodded.
The hospital is currently conducting a two-weeks marathon of the ‘Four Hands’ method to offer extra focus on its Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP). Meir Medical Center is the only hospital in the country currently offering NIDCAP.
"I very much wanted to take part and learn how to get close and look after them [her babies] without worrying," said Liron Azoz. who is the mother of two babies born weighing only 700 grams and 640 grams during the 25th week of the pregnancy, said.She added the training boosted her confidence levels and that she was able to bathe her newborns with the nurse offering background support.
"We will leave the program with the tools needed to sooth our babies," she said, "which is a great gift."