The research project "Affective touch and neurodevelopment in premature babies" was the inspiration for the story "Skin-to-skin contact is helping Lourenço and João grow, who arrived prematurely", by Público newspaper.
The recruitment and data collection for the study started in November and is being developed within the PhD project of Joana Antunes, psychologist and doctoral researcher at CIPsi's Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory, under the guidance of Adriana Sampaio, Francis McGlone and Susannah Walker.
The project aims to monitor the implementation of skin-to-skin contact for premature newborns, allowing the exploration of its benefits during hospitalization in the Neonatal Unit of the University Hospital Center of São João. It also seeks to understand the factors that can promote its implementation.
Another goal of the project is to understand the effects in the development of the baby, for which it has the support of the Psychology Unit of the same University Hospital Center, in order to conduct a neurodevelopmental assessment at 18 months of corrected age. The effects at an epigenetic level will be explored as well, in order to understand the impact of the sensory experiences of touch on genetic expressivity.
Público's story focused on care centered on the baby's development and the family, namely Kangaroo Mother Care, which seeks to increase skin-to-skin contact between baby and caregivers. The Kangaroo Mother Care method and skin-to-skin contact are the focus of the project that results from a collaboration between CIPsi's Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory, the SomAffect Group from Liverpool John Moores University, and the Neonatal and Psychology Units of the University Hospital Center of São João, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
The implementation of the project has the support of different nursing, neonatal and psychology key elements from @saojoaopediatria and @nidcap.portugal, which are represented in the story by Madalena Pacheco (nurse), Sandra Costa (physician) and Sara Almeida (physician), respectively, as well as by the medical director of the Neonatal Unit, Henrique Soares.
In the photo: Joana Antunes, Sara Almeida, Madalena Ramos and Sandra Costa, who are part of the team.
Read the full story here:
https://www.publico.pt/2023/11/18/sociedade/reportagem/toque-pele-pele-faz-crescer-bebes-lourenco-joao-nasceram-tempo-2070563
Article: Sofia Neves.
Photography: Adriana Miranda