Quote:
| At the Children's hospital in Portland, Oregon, there is actually a volunteer baby-holding program for NICU babes. |
Nicu Mommy here.... I am only referencing my expereince here. I am sure there are babies (I've seen them.) when no one visits and holds them.
That said, I would have been livid had the hospital had volunteers holding my little one. Infection risk is a huge reason for this. Another reason is our time to hold her was limited because of overstimulation concerns, so if a volunteer was holding her, that would take away my time with her. I visited DD twice a day, my mom usually went once a day, and DH visited with me at night.
And with that said, I am grateful that there were nurses willing to coo and give her love and attention. One time when I arrived, I saw the doctor talking baby talk to her and playing while he assessed her. I saw nurses telling her that mommy was coming, or singing to her. One nurse felt that DD was bored, and let her listen to jazz quietly on the ipod that day. DD loved that. (DD was bored.) Once DD became less prone to overstimulation, it was ok for me for the nurses to hold her. The ipod nurse once apologized for holding her most of the day (she called it spoiling) because DD would cry unless held. I had no problems with that.