Dina McGovern cuddles six-week-old Hiro in the NICU at St Michael’s Hospital on Dec. 11. She has been a volunteer with the hospital’s infant cuddling program since the very beginning.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
On Thursday afternoons, Dina McGovern is usually tucked in a corner of the neonatal intensive care unit at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, humming a nursery rhyme and cuddling a baby.
The 76-year-old retired lactation consultant and grandmother of five quips she’s not much of a singer, but she likes to croon melodies for the babies she snuggles through a hospital volunteer program.
The infant cuddling program at St. Michael’s was initiated a decade ago with trained individuals providing support for NICU babies seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It was considered among the first of its kind in the country and created in response to research that showed babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome, who experienced withdrawal symptoms after being exposed to opioids in utero, spent fewer days in the NICU when they received consistent cuddling.
Ms. McGovern has volunteered since the beginning. “It’s really gratifying.”
Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Similar infant cuddling programs have sprouted at other hospitals, including for the past two years at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto. The site, like St. Michael’s, is part of Unity Health Toronto.
In addition to supporting infants, volunteer cuddling programs are designed to help parents of NICU babies, who are often navigating complex medical situations.
Infants’ parents may also have additional responsibilities, such as needing to provide child care for siblings at home. They may also find comfort from being able to catch a momentary break.
“The majority of the moms and dads are really happy to have us hold their baby when they are not there,” Ms. McGovern said.
Michael Garron Hospital, also located in Toronto, has two volunteer cuddlers come in daily for a few hours. They sing and chat with babies. Sometimes, volunteers are present for medical procedures that may be stressful for infants, such as injections.
The hospital says that without the cuddlers, babies would be held by nursing staff to be fed. Volunteers help to offer engagement between those feeding times.
Research shows that holding babies can improve both physiological and neurological development. They could have improved immunity and release fewer stress hormones.
“Consistent, loving human touch helps babies heal,” said Karen Carlyle, a pediatric nurse practitioner who runs the volunteer NICU program at St. Michael’s.
“For the past decade, it’s our NICU nurses who have carried that evidence into practice – guiding parents, training volunteers and ensuring our most vulnerable babies feel held, loved, supported and never alone.”
Often, infants prefer to lie sideways and curl up next to volunteer cuddlers, falling asleep, she said. Others prefer to be held upright, especially if they have feeding challenges.
“Then they snuggle in to you in that spot,” she said, adding rocking usually does the trick if they are fussy.
Ms. McGovern often talks to the babies, as if she and the infant are engaged in a conversation. She might tell them, for example, that they are cute. She may also remark on their big eyes if they are alert.
“It works,” she said. “They don’t understand what you’re saying, but they do kind of respond to a voice.”
And after a decade of showing up to comfort infants receiving neonatal intensive care, Ms. McGovern is left with something lasting: joy.
“They give to me as much as they get from me,” she said. “We both benefit.”