Overview

• Published Sept. 24, 2025 in Neurology, the study of 88 infants born before 32 weeks associated greater kangaroo care during hospitalization with differences in white matter microstructure in emotion- and stress-related pathways.
• Diffusion MRI before discharge showed longer sessions correlated with higher mean diffusivity in the cingulum and anterior thalamic radiations and with lower fractional anisotropy in the anterior thalamic radiations.
• These associations remained after adjusting for gestational age at birth, age at scan, socioeconomic status, and family visit frequency.
• Families averaged one visit per day; typical sessions lasted about 70 minutes, mothers provided 73% of sessions, and infants averaged 24 minutes of skin-to-skin per day across the stay.
• The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and an accompanying editorial highlighted common NICU barriers to sustained skin-to-skin care.