Kangaroo skin-to-skin Care for Premature Twins and their Adolescent Parents

Risk factors associated with prematurity and adolescent parenting greatly increase when combined with multiple birth. Kangaroo care (KC) for preterm infants is well documented, although KC with twins or with adolescent parents is mentioned only briefly. In this case study, adolescent parents experience KC with their 32-week twin sons beginning 19 hours postbirth. These young parents interacted with, responded to, and took responsibility for their newborn sons, behaviors that are sometimes difficult for adolescent parents. Thus, KC appeared to be an effective intervention for these adolescent parents. Additionally, three kinds of KC with twins were identified: separate, sequential, and shared.