Smart, loving touch makes newborns healthy and happy

By Tri Hafiningsih

JAKARTA (JP): Many of us are familiar with the soothing wonders of massage for our tired muscles. But few know the wonders of massage, or more accurately "touch", for newborn babies.

Studies show the first touch made by mothers to a newborn is of ultimate importance in determining the quality of the baby's health and intelligence. This "magic" massage of a newborn, as young as a day old, is a good start toward a healthy and smart baby, said pediatrician Utami Roesli, in a seminar on the advantages of massage for babies, held here last Saturday.

Utami cited research backing the importance of massage for newborns in improving their health and stimulating their mental development.

Research in 1989 found that premature babies weighing 1.2 kilograms at delivery, who had routine massages by their parents or paramedics, improved their weight by eight grams daily over those who received similar feedings but were not massaged. The sample group of 40 babies was weighed 12 days after leaving the neonatal intensive care unit.

Utami said routine massages helped babies' ability to absorb nutrition given to them.

The massages also promote the child's growth and parent-child bonding. "It will improve the baby's ability to fight infections, caused by the reduction of stress hormones," Utami added.

There seems no end to the benefits. Other advantages of the massage include improving the baby's alertness and the ability to have a good night's sleep, she said in the seminar sponsored by Intisari monthly magazine and Johnson & Johnson baby toiletries, among others.

In front of an audience of about 300, mostly mothers of newborns and toddlers, mothers-to-be, some fathers and childless couples, Utami demonstrated basic strokes and massages for babies. She used keywords such as "smile, heart, butterfly, moon, sun and I Love You" to accentuate the techniques.

Utami said the routine would yield the most results within the first six or seven months of the babies' life and would be best conducted every morning before bathing or every evening before bedtime.

Participants followed Utami's instructions on dolls. Several nurses and skilled volunteers helped to demonstrate the right strokes to the keen and enthusiastic audience.

Utami said the first six months of a baby's life saw the fastest growth of brain cells whose number determined his or her intelligence. "We want our babies to be smart ones," she said, adding that while one could not do much about genetic factors, conducting the routine massages was proven to help babies' mental health.

Utami added such massages supplemented breastfeeding during the first four months to six months of the baby's life to provide a better chance for the child to have a healthy body and brain.

"Newborns will retain their self confidence and sense of security if they are held and breast-fed almost immediately after deliveries," said Utami, who also heads the team promoting an "exclusive breastfeeding program" at Saint Carolus Hospital, Central Jakarta.

Another speaker, well-known child psychologist and educator Seto Mulyadi, said people commonly know that touching, kisses, embraces or lullabies exert positive values on babies and children. He added that these physical demonstrations of love helped social skills, a fact scientifically proven and tried and tested through generations.

"Loving touches develop the emotional intelligence of a baby." Setyo added that emotional maturity was equally important in promoting the health of the body and brain.

He pronounced the first five years of a child's life as the most crucial because it greatly determines the quality of the rest of his or her life.