Kangaroo Care Miracle Baby Turns Two, Controversy Continues

03/09/2012 10:00 am by

Jamie Ogg turned two the other day, and although that might not seem like anything newsworthy, it’s being lauded as an absolute miracle. The Australian boy and his twin sister Emily were born at only 27 weeks, and Jamie was pronounced dead at birth. But when the doctors gave him to his mother so she could say goodbye to her son, something amazing happened.

He started to move.

preemie feet 600x399 Kangaroo Care Miracle Baby Turns Two, Controversy Continues

Kate Ogg cradled Jamie to her and after five minutes, he was responding to her and even took some breast milk she dripped on her finger. Incredibly, he continued to thrive and he and his sister are now healthy and happy toddlers. The practice of “kangaroo care,” the technique Kate used on her 2 pound baby was thrust into the spotlight, but not everyone is happy about it.

Skin to skin contact for premature infants is still not practiced or even allowed in most hospitals, and the Oggs’ story has upset many parents who have lost children, who say that the story gives false hope and dismisses the pain of those whose children have died. However, Kate Ogg credits the practice with saving her baby’s life.

I can see both sides of the argument, and understand completely why some people, especially those who have gone through the horror of losing a child could see it as dangerous. However, if you’ve been told there is no hope for your baby, and you want to say goodbye, as was the case with the Oggs, what is the harm in trying? It could be the only time you get to hold your child, and if the unbelievable happens and it revives the baby, well, that’s just the best news ever.

Skin to skin contact is also being used more often in NICUs, but it can be intimidating and frightening for new parents, since there is usually a plethora of wires and tubes involved, and the babies are so fragile. Some hospitals are helping parents by having them practice with dolls first, and then moving on to the tiny children. Doctors have said that the kangaroo care can not only help with bonding, but calms the babies, improving their quality of life. So why isn’t it used in more hospitals?

miracle baby Kangaroo Care Miracle Baby Turns Two, Controversy Continues

Kate Ogg and her “surprise” baby Charlie

As for the Oggs, Kate reports that they are completely normal and healthy kids now, and although she still gets paranoid about them, they are developmentally on track and act like any other two-year-olds. She delights in milestones and treasures every moment with them. She is also busier than ever, as she got pregnant again right after the twins were born. Their brother Charlie was conceived without the use of IVF, which Kate used to conceive the twins, and Kate had no idea she could even get pregnant without assistance. He also wanted to make an early entrance, and Kate went into labor at only 20 weeks. Doctors intervened, and Kate was able to carry Charlie to term, delivering her “little sumo” at a whopping 10 pounds—eight pounds more than his brother and sister.

Even though he was born healthy, Kate used kangaroo care with Charlie as well, and swears by its benefits. He is now heartier than ever and growing so fast that he and the twins wear the same size diapers. Ms. Ogg says that her family is profoundly blessed, and they couldn’t be happier.

Whether or not kangaroo care is the miracle it seems or not is beyond the point. The bond between parent and child at the first moments of life is irreplaceable, and if those moments are sadly the only time the parents have with that child, they seem all the more precious. What happened with Jamie Ogg’s stunning story is obviously not the norm, but it certainly shows that sometimes the unbelievable can happen, and that kangaroo care might have more power than we think. What do you think? Hit the comments and let us know.

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About Danielle Vintschger

Danielle, aka Miss Banshee, is a writer, a professional snarker, and your slap bet commissioner. She lives in the great state of New Jersey, enjoys caffeine, cigarettes, making fun of her cats, and never taking herself seriously.

Filed Under: Celebrity Babies, Horror, News, Parenthood Tagged With: , , , , , ,


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  • Sarah_t

    I’m sorry, I’m failing to see the downside here….holding your newborn is good for them, and may be so good for them that it keeps them alive?  So why are people against it?  Because they didn’t try it?  Because they tried it and their baby died anyway?  That’s like saying no one should feed children because some of them have choked on food.

  • http://snotw.blogspot.com Rachael1013

    The thing is, all babies are different.  Some babies would be way too weak to survive at 27 weeks, and others are stronger.  This baby lived, others might not.  I personally think that ‘kangaroo care’ is important for ALL babies.  Skin to skin contact helps with bonding and normalizing outside the womb.  The thing you said that I most agreed with was this:
    “The bond between parent and child at the first moments of life is irreplaceable, and if those moments are sadly the only time the parents have with that child, they seem all the more precious. ”

    I think it should be the parent’s choice.  There are ALWAYS going to be ‘what ifs’ and just because something worked for one person doesn’t mean it will work for you.  It is the doctor’s job to give people a realistic expectation of what will happen with their child.  It is the parent’s job to be well informed about things and if something is billed as a “miracle”?  It’s probably good to be extra cautious about it and the percent chance it will do the same for you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=742311787 Alison McGeary Stella

    Our girls were born at 33 weeks and we did not use kangaroo care but not because our hospital did not allow it.  We really did not have the opportunity to hold the girls all that much in those first days/week.  Our hospital, St. Barnabas, advocates Kangaroo care and encourages it in cases where it’s safe and possible.  I think it’s an excellent bonding tool and means of connection- especially for NICU parents.

  • SuzyQuzey

    How could anyone be against this? We kmow physicial nurturing is important to all humans, and I would think especially so for those who have left the womb too soon.

  • LadyJess78

    As someone who has lost a child, I’ll tell you my version of the downside. I don’t know that this is how other feel about it, but it’s how I feel. When you lose a baby, the first thing that everyone says is, “What happened?” And you have to answer that. And the whole time you are answering it, you know they are wondering what you did wrong. Not because they don’t love you or because they think you are horrible, but because you are the cautionary whale, and whatever happened to you, they will move mountains to make sure it doesn’t happen to them. 

    I think it is truly wonderful that this woman had this experience, I do. But I also think that if holding a baby could bring him back from the dead, there would be a lot less mourning mothers in the world. This is one more thing that people can point to and say, “Well did you…” Did you sleep, did you stress, did you eat healthy food, did you, did you, did you. The did you’s kill us. 

    I am not opposed to kangaroo care in NICU’s and I truly believe that this woman should get to just live her life in quiet, knowing that she has a miracle on her hands. But to present this as some kind of cure for death is irresponsible at best and cruel at worst. As long as I live, I will always relive that moment – and wondering if I could have changed it by ripping off my hospital gown is not helpful to anyone.

    • http://snotw.blogspot.com Rachael1013

      First of all, I am so sorry for your loss.  It breaks my heart a little bit every time I hear about someone losing a child.  I agree exactly with what you said in the last paragraph – it is irresponsible to present it as as cure in the same way that it’s totally irresponsible for Jenny McCarthy to claim she cured autism.  This is an exception, not a rule.

  • Tyskkvinna

    I think anytime somebody experiences an outstanding anomaly (“miracle”, if you will), it can be easy to take it to mean that everybody in the same situation should try it. Sadly, I think most of the time things are going to play out and you can move entire mountains and still not “win”.

    I’m sure there could be any number of reasons Jamie lived. I’m happy to hear he did. I’m sure his entire family treasures him for the many number of miracles that he obviously is.

  • Leanne Palmerston

    I don’t think anyone ever has considered this a cure for death, but the science is solid: stick a preemie in an incubator and their respiration, blood sugar levels, heart rate and temperature all bounce up and down, regardless of how warm and regular their mechanical care is. Put that baby naked against its mother’s naked chest and it’s vitals even out, get regular and stronger. Mothers can lower and raise temperature, lower and raise blood sugar levels through this type of touch alone, regulate breathing – that’s not a miracle: it’s how humans are supposed to nurture infants.

    Are there infants who need more care than that, yes. Is it a replacement for care? No. But it absolutely should be the way ALL newborns are cared for and a component of preemie care. 

    I wonder if, when they developed the APGAR score system, a way for caregivers to rank – at a glance – which babies probably need immediate extra care, there was some kind of angry backlash of deniers and apologists amongst the people whose children did not receive an APGAR score that would have guaranteed immediate high risk perinatal care and then did not survive their births? That sounds as ridiculous as the critics of kangaroo mother care sound.

    We can’t go back and correct the past. We can only continue to make birth and perinatal care better.

  • Tmanhollan

    My son was born at 28 weeks, and I was allowed to use kangaroo care, but not when he first came out. It was about 2 weeks after he was born. I wish I could have held him against me as soon as he was born. But even though I had to wait, I think kangaroo care was what got him out of the nic unit. He was released weeks before the doctors inatially said he would and he had little problems growning and developing. I don’t think kangaroo care should ever be stopped. It saved my son, and me i was a mess when he was born so early.

  • http://swanfeet.wordpress.com/ ladyphlogiston

    I used a lot of kangaroo care, partly because of the encouragement of my midwife.  (We started at a birth center and transferred to the hospital, but the midwife came with me)  The nurses didn’t like it much, but at least they didn’t actively fight it, aside from constantly offering to make me more comfortable by tying the strings of my gown.  But I think that was just habit.

    My sister was in the NICU for a couple of weeks, and my mom (who was in the hospital also, because her kidneys shut down or something) was only “allowed” to hold her for a certain amount of time each day.  An hour, I think.  She would pretend to be asleep in the rocking chair whenever the nurse came to collect the baby in order to extend the time.