GIVE YOUR PRETERM BABY THE BEST POSSIBLE START IN LIFE   If you have just given birth to a preterm infant, you and your baby both face special challenges. Parents long to help their baby but often feel isolated and frightened by hospital procedures.   Now there is wonderful news for both babies and parents. Kangaroo Care, a technique pioneered in leading neonatal centers worldwide, gives you a unique role: a special way of holding your infant that provides crucial health benefits—including shorter hospital stays.   Based on ground-breaking research, Kangaroo Care is a step-by-step guide to bringing these benefits to your baby—even if your neonatal unit does not yet have a Kangaroo Care program. It explains:   • Why Kangaroo Care enhances your baby’s development • How to use the technique even if your infant requires a ventilator or an incubator • How to understand your baby’s signals of distress or comfort—and how to respond • How you can work with the national staff to provide the best for your baby between your visits • How to involve fathers as well as mothers • All the proven results of Kangaroo Care—including a more relaxed, healthier, and contented baby   THE COMPLETE PARENTS’ GUIDE TO THE REVOLUTIONARY NEW TREATMENT FOR PRETERM BABIES Originating in Colombia a decade ago as a means of keeping preterm infants (premies) alive in an unheated hospital, "kangaroo care" is a term describing skin-to-skin contact in an upright position. The authors have written a comprehensive book explaining what it is, which premies are suitable and why (not all qualify), the physiological theories behind it, and how it benefits both infants and their parents. They describe a typical neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay and how this procedure can complement NICU treatment. For additional information on premies, see Helen Harrison's The Premature Baby Book ( LJ 7/83). Highly recommended for family health collections. - Anne C. Tomlin, Auburn Memorial Hosp. Lib., N.Y. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Dr. Susan Ludington-Hoe received her PhD from Texas Women’s University, majoring in maternal-child health and minoring in child development. She is also a certified nurse midwife. Since 1976, Dr. Ludington-Hoe has published numerous scholarly articles documenting her research studies in the field of infant development, infant stimulation, and Kangaroo Care. She is also the coauthor with Susan K. Golant of the popular book  How to Have a Smarter Baby . 1   Today’s Revolution in Premature Care   A tiny premature baby was born 16 weeks early (24 weeks gestation) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in October 1991. Steven was quite sick, and the medical staff had great difficulty keeping him alive. It appeared that all the treatments they tried were ineffective. Sadly, Steven was slipping away: his blood values were dropping, and his immature lungs were unable to provide him with enough oxygen.   Under the direction of the nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit (the NICU), Steven was given to his mother, Dorothy, so she would have a chance to say good-bye. They left mother and baby alone and returned two hours later.   What a surprise awaited them upon their return! Dorothy was still holding Steven, who was still connected to all his equipment and monitors. But she had undressed him and had spontaneously placed him on her bare chest. When the nurse in charge took Steven’s vital signs for what she thought was the last time, she noticed the level of oxygen in his blood had increased, the level of carbon dioxide had dropped (as one would want it to), his blood pressure was more stable, his breathing less labored.   The nurses contacted the resident, and together they asked Dorothy to continue holding her baby throughout the night so that they could monitor his progress. Within twenty-four hours, Steven improved dramatically. When Dorothy grew tired, her husband Jack came in and took over holding their infant. Over the course of the next two days, Steven was continuously held in the intensive care nursery of this teaching hospital.   During those three days, Steven’s physiological condition reversed. The health care staff continued doing everything possible to save his life. Dorothy and Jack were exhausted from their round-the-clock vigil, and the neonatologist suggested they reduce their holding to three hours a day. In the following weeks, they alternated evenings with each other, until Steven was taken out of the incubator and placed in an open-air crib. He was discharged from the hospital at four months of age. Several months later, Steven and his parents appeared on Good Morning America—a “miracle baby” and his family.   Heartened by this success, the health staff were eager to try holding with other premature infants. Soon babies whose breathing was regulated by ventilators were being placed on their parents’ chests. By a happy accident, Dorothy and St