In conversation with: Physician-researcher Deedee Kommers

Physician-researcher Deedee Kommers on the importance of pouching in conjunction with Womboo

Deedee Kommers is a leading physician – researcher from Eindhoven with a great love for answers. On a sunny day on May 8, we met with her at the Máxima Medisch Centrum (MMC) in Veldhoven.

Deedee Kommers in brief.

In September 2006, she became a first-year medical student in Utrecht. Not sure if she wanted to be a doctor, but sure that she wanted to learn to understand as much of the human body as possible. So six years later, she had enjoyed everything she had learned, but still wanted to know much more.

In conversation with a colleague, the possibility of pursuing a doctorate came up. This was a project aimed at improving parent-child bonding at the neonatal intensive care unit of Máxima Medisch Centrum in Veldhoven. So a project for which Deedee would be required to study the biology of attachment between parents and their “premature” children.

And this project showed that it is baby “pouching,” or skin-to-skin contact of babies with the parent that has a positive impact on their health.

Parent-child bonding project

Máxima Medical Center’s research in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology has been successful.

A majority of premature infants struggle with behavioral or health problems later in life. “These problems can be addressed by improving parent-child bonding,” said doctoral student Deedee Kommers. This was also the purpose of her research.

To do this, it was first necessary to examine exactly what “adhesion” is. In doing so, Kommers discovered that not only does pouching contribute to bonding, but that skin-to-skin contact is also the best time to measure bonding between parent and their (premature) baby.

During pouching, children were laid on the bare chest of one of their parents and then covered with the parents’ arms or a blanket. This mimics the pouch of a kangaroo.

The hypothesis was that the amount of oxytocin, also known as the happiness and cuddle hormone, would change during pouching. To do this, Kommers looked at the babies’ saliva, as this shows the amount of oxytocin. Differences in the heart rhythms of premature babies before, during and after pouching were also examined.

According to Kommers, differences were immediately noticeable between the moments in the incubator and during pouching. “With a parameter like that, you can convince people even more that there needs to be more mollycoddling,” Kommers said. Indeed, it is abundantly clear that extending actual pouch time is the most effective way to improve parent-child bonding.”

Thesis. Deedee kommers

www.deedeekommers.com

Womboo in relation to research findings

Womboo is the carrying shirt for parents with a newborn baby up to 9 kilograms. To find out if Womboo can also contribute to parent-child bonding for both premature babies and full-term babies, we asked her the following questions:

1. Your research shows the effect and importance of pouching. What are the main results you’ve seen with premature babies and pouching?

Among other things, we measured heart rhythm during the examination. A premature baby has difficulty maintaining the heart rhythm, which shows large fluctuations. We investigated what the difference is between a baby being in the incubator for an hour and hour in “pouch. The moment your baby is in the pouch, we see a sharp decrease in these rhythmic fluctuations. Even in the hour after the marsupial, the baby is found to be much calmer and the heart rate fluctuations are smaller.

Co-regulation means that you cannot control things like temperature, light or emotions completely individually. A newborn baby certainly cannot do this by itself; a baby needs outside influence. Dad’s and certainly Mom’s body is well suited for that. When you lay your baby on your chest there is a natural interaction of the parent’s body heat which supports your baby in regulating body temperature.

We also recorded as results that babies cried less and slept longer and deeper. This, of course, is good for brain recovery.

2. At the time the babies go home, the parents no longer have a pouch. Can Womboo contribute to this?

Absolutely, with the Womboo wear shirt, the pouch period can be extended. Skin-to-skin contact is something children love, and it doesn’t matter that there is also clothing in between. It still ensures that babies feel warmth and smell the mother, Womboo offers a perfect solution for this.

3. Does this only apply to premature babies or also to full-term babies?

For all babies. There are so many different babies, some benefit from a longer pouch period than others. But most babies love wearing/carrying and will immediately calm down or even fall asleep.

4. In what ways do you think Womboo can make a positive contribution to parent-child bonding in the first few months?

I am in favor of basically all carrying methods. A sling or baby carrier are good options, and Womboo is a very innovative and convenient solution for young babies in this regard. The pouch is great for easily holding your baby close to you. I believe this contributes greatly to good bonding between parent and child.

5. How long do you recommend pouching the baby for the best parent-child bonding?

This depends on the baby. Of course, it is very effective to do this in the first few months because that is when babies often struggle with separation anxiety. Therefore, it is also advisable to have the baby sleep in the parents’ bedroom during these first months. By nature, children find it very stressful to be separated. Especially with Womboo’s handy carry shirt, it is easy to make this period as long as possible.

6. In your opinion, is Womboo a good alternative to pouching/carrying babies?

Yes absolutely. The Womboo carry shirt contributes to a good bond between parent and child. In addition, it lowers the barrier to babywearing because there is nothing to tie. The easy donning of the shirt is super nice, baby’s temperature regulation is well supported by the ventilating fabric in the pouch. As your baby hears your heartbeat, his/her own heartbeat also becomes more stable. Womboo could certainly be a good alternative to the carrying methods as they currently exist on the market.