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Objective: To examine the effect of kangaroo care on heart rate variability in a healthy preterm infant., Design: Case study., Setting: Private room on a postpartum unit., Participant: A mother-preterm infant dyad., Intervention: Kangaroo (skin-to-skin) care., Main Outcome Measure: Heart rate variability, a noninvasive measurement of the sympathetic and parasympathetic components of the autonomic nervous system's influence on heart rate., Results: Heart rate variability, especially the parasympathetic component, was high when the infant was fussy in the open crib, indicating increased autonomic nervous system activity. With kangaroo care, the infant fell asleep, and both sympathetic and parasympathetic components of heart rate variability decreased., Conclusions: The wide fluctuations in the parasympathetic component of heart rate variability suggest immaturity of the sympathovagal response. Overall, kangaroo care produced changes in heart rate variability that illustrate decreasing stress.

Objective: To describe the experience of high-risk pregnancy from the perspectives of mothers and fathers., Design: A naturalistic inquiry using selected grounded-theory techniques., Setting: Interviews occurred within the hospital., Participants: A sample of 21 parents who experienced high-risk pregnancy and the birth of a preterm infant., Main Outcome Measures: Responses and management of responses to high-risk pregnancy., Results: Emotional responses to high-risk pregnancy were (a)vulnerability--the realization that pregnancy outcome was at risk, (b)heightened anxiety--the transition from normal activities to bed rest and hospitalization, and (c)inevitability--the imminent premature delivery of an infant with a guarded prognosis., Conclusions: These findings have relevance for perinatal nurses. Nurses who have knowledge of the emotional responses parents experience during high-risk pregnancy can provide supportive care to these individuals.