The CHPG has been given a new device designed to maintain the connection between parents and hospitalised newborns, easing the worries of parents and the stresses on fragile babies.
Every year, 8% of babies are born prematurely. These tiny infants are usually hospitalised, with stays ranging on average from two weeks to three months – a period that is difficult for both parents and the child, who requires contact in order to thrive.
Though parents are allowed to stay nearby, and there are methods such as “kangaroo care” whereby the baby and parent share skin to skin contact for short periods, it is no substitute for the interactions that would normally take place in a non-hospital setting.
This problem was brought to light for Aurore Saintigny when her baby was born prematurely. It inspired her to create a new way of ensuring that preemies get the most possible contact from parents and loved ones, even when circumstances prevent actual contact.
Called CaliNange, the system, which works without screens or waves, comes in the form of a small heart-shaped device that is personalised for each child. It allows the baby to hear its parents’ voices and the heartbeat of a loved one, to smell its mother’s scent on a cloth cover that encapsulates the device, and provides a soft and light environment.
This approach has many benefits including the improvement of a child’s well-being when close proximity isn’t an option, prolonging the bonding time through the presence of one or both parents, as well as being a source of comfort to those children who are hospitalised for long periods for other illnesses.
“It seemed to me completely in line with what Princess Grace achieved and carried out, to propose the CaliNange to the team of Dr Haas at the CPHG to maintain the parent-child bond,” said Carla Shechter-Fadoul, President of Monaco Liver Disorder-MLD, who brought the system to the Princess Grace Hospital Centre on Monday 13th June. “Family is essential for the improvement of the development and the follow-up of the child.
“Giving additional means of comfort and relief to caregivers during painful care is also one of our strongest wishes. It is not always possible to take your child in your arms when they need it, which is why discovering and supporting a solution that allows the parent to be as close as possible to their baby, even in an incubator, even in a sterile bubble, even in the operating room or for paediatric services, immediately spoke to us.”
CaliNange is produced in France, with 98% of the pieces sourced in a radius of less than 100 kilometres. The components are all washable and sterilisable and are compatible for use in an incubator. Safety has been tested in independent labs for both medical and home use and the lighting is suitable for a newborn, using comparable radiation to the baby’s belly exposed to full sun. Sounds are emitted at frequencies that are soothing to the child and are created according to algorithms. For more info, visit the website at www.calinescence.fr.
Top photo: Presentation of the CalinAnge by Carla Shechter, President of Monaco Liver Disorder-MLD, to Dr Hervé Haas, head of the Paediatric department of the CHPG, by Clement Martinez