Israel's Hillel Yaffe Medical Center has launched a therapeutic initiative called "Close to the Heart" To help parents of premature infants maintain connection during hospitalization. The program was developed jointly by the hospital's Occupational Therapy Service, Premature Birth Unit and Textile Division.
The tool consists of a small heart-shaped piece of flannel fabric that is exchanged daily between mother and baby. Premature infants often spend their initial days or weeks in incubators with monitoring equipment, creating separation that hospital staff describe as difficult for both children and parents.
The concept was adapted from a similar project at Meir Hospital's neonatal and premature intensive care unit, led by occupational therapist Dr. Adi Freund Azaria. According to the hospital, smell is one of the senses that develops earliest in humans, making it effective for therapeutic use.
Research cited by the medical center indicates that maternal scent can help premature infants stabilize physiological measures including heart rate, breathing and oxygen saturation, while potentially reducing stress and pain.
Occupational therapists Shira Itzhaki Cohen and Noa Shiff, who run the project at Hillel Yaffe, explained: "When mothers go home, the baby is left without the stimuli that are familiar to him. The hearts allow the mother's scent to remain, which gives him security and calm. It is a simple but powerful tool that reminds the baby that he is not alone, and allows the mother to remain present and enveloping even from a distance."
Dr. Amit Hochberg, director of the hospital's Newborn and Premature Department, said "Regular exposure to the mother's scent acts as a natural painkiller for the premature baby and stabilizes physiological indicators. Closeness to the mother, whether physically or through an intermediary, allows the newborn to move from a survival state to a state of calm even when the parents are not physically present."
Hochberg added that the exchange benefits mothers as well: "The baby's scent encourages the secretion of oxytocin, the love hormone, helps reduce anxiety, and even supports the production of breast milk, which is the best medicine and nutrition for premature babies." He described the project as "small, but extremely important."