Gently Encouraging Breastfeeding in the NICU

HAVING AN INFANT IN THE NICU is far from the picturesque mother-child scene most people imagine. When a baby is born early, the parents must face a totally new world filled with life support machines, feeding tubes, medications, an incubator, as well as a team of doctors and nurses. As the new parents digest what has happened and what may soon happen to their baby, they feel far from "normal." Maybe they can change a diaper and take the baby's temperature, but they need a stronger sense that they are important to their baby's health and well-being in this strange new land of the NICU.