May 2026 FCC Community Exchange

Thank you to the 140+ members who joined us for this month’s FCC Community Exchange session! We’re incredibly grateful to Yamile C. Jackson, PhD, PE, PMP and Marsha Campbell-Yeo, RN, MN, NNP-BC, PhD, FAAN who facilitated an open forum-style session around optimizing Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care in the NICU.

Highlights:

• Safety needs to include emotional safety for families and healthcare teams

• Safety should not be an excuse to forgo skin-to-skin care

• Implement or expand simulation and hands-on training for staff and families to increase confidence and safety in skin-to-skin care practices, especially for very preterm infants

• Review and update local policies and language around skin-to-skin care to emphasize benefits and reduce restrictive/safety-focused barriers

• Units should track and measure instances of skin-to-skin care (duration, frequency, barriers) to support continuous improvement

• Provide education and support for non-birthing parents in skin-to-skin care, addressing their unique concerns and possible risk aversion

• Encourage multidisciplinary collaboration (nurses, therapists, respiratory staff) in supporting and implementing skin-to-skin care

• Use visual aids, videos, and family testimonials to build staff and parent confidence in skin-to-skin care, especially in single-family room settings

• Consider reframing rounding and documentation practices to focus on reasons why babies are not receiving skin-to-skin care, rather than charting when they are