Nurturing Touch Helps Mothers with Postpartum Depression and Their Infants

POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION (PPD) strikes one in eight women.¹ Mothers of premature infants are at especially high risk for PPD because of the amount of stress involved in a premature birth and in caring for the infant in the NI CU. The mother is struggling with loss of a "normal" birth and has been thrust into the scary world of the NICU, where she must watch her infant fight for life. Stress and lack of a decent recovery period combine to tax the mother's emotional state and put her ability to cope at risk. The concept of nurturing touch, however, can bridge the gap between mother and infant while providing emotional, medical, and developmental benefits.