We all know that the best bonding experience between mother and baby is skin to skin, or even baby and father, baby and carer. But sometimes this is not always possible, due to premature birth, baby will be placed into an incubator for a certain amount of time, and sometimes the incubator can act as a barrier. Sometimes it is due to Mother who may have some post-partum health issues, or any reason so that skin to skin is not possible. It is so important to encourage bonding between baby and parent / carer, so that is when these little bonding squares are very helpful. They are made in pairs, usually about 10 X 10 cm (4 X 4 inches), no bigger than 12 X 12 cm (5 X 5 inches), one is kept very close to the baby in the incubator and the other one is on the mother’s skin, usually in her bra, for 12 hours, then the squares are exchanged between mother and baby. What this does, it enhances the sense of smell, the baby will be able to smell their mother on the little bonding square, it will give them some reassurance and they can feel their mother, which will help with bonding. Whilst mother has their little bonding square in their bra, it can also give them the same reassurance, and smelling the smell of their newborn baby, it also gives them an additional help, whilst she can smell her newborn baby, it can help with the release of a hormone which in turn, which will encourage lactation for breast feeding.
These little square are such valuable tools to have and don’t take much time at all to make.