Bonding Squares for premature babies
As I wrote in my last post, about knitting blankets for premature babies , there is quite a demand in UK hospitals for blankets, tiny baby clothes, and also bonding squares. I had not heard of bonding squares until I started reading about knitting for premature babies. I joined a useful Facebook group , and they provide both instructions and some explanations. Bonding squares are knitted in identical pairs, usually square in shape, around 10-12.5cm square (that's four or five inches). They are used when, for any reason, a mother must be separated from her baby. This happens most often when a baby is premature. There is evidence for the vital importance of 'bonding' in the earliest hours after a baby's birth, when he or she gets to know the mother's scent. This works both ways; the baby's scent is an important part of the trigger for the mother to produce milk. Normally mother and baby would spend a lot of time cuddling, including some skin-to-skin contact,