We are accustomed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in open rooms of hospitals shared by several babies, which some researchers define as "baby stable". Trajín of people entering and leaving, machine noises, lights ... the environment can be quite stressful for a premature baby, especially if he is not allowed to be in permanent contact with his parents.
A study by researchers at the Center for the Study of Children at Risk of the Rhode Island Women's and Baby Hospital found that private rooms for families are more beneficial for premature in intensive care than the common rooms.
The findings are based on more than 400 premature newborns who remained in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of that hospital between 2008 and 2012. In that period, the unit was transformed from a traditional open room to private rooms. This process was then used to check the results of newborns before and after the change.
They could verify that premature babies they gained weight faster, were more alert and less distressed when the NICU went from being open to private rooms for families.
The participation of the mother makes an essential difference. When bathing the baby, breastfeeding more frequently and being more in contact skin to skin, there is a calming effect on the baby's nervous system.
It is understood that it is an expensive process for hospitals to transform the common rooms into private rooms, but there is no doubt that the premature contact with the parents in an intimate environment is the best for the baby.
