Touch. A simple hand on the shoulder, a hug or holding hands can have a profound effect. The original story of the rescuing hug surfaced over 25 years ago where a simple touch had a miraculous effect for twin sisters, Brielle and Kyrie. It is a powerful reminder on the power of touch in human lives.
The Twins
Twins, Brielle and Kyrie Jackson, were born on October 17th, 1995 – a full 12 weeks premature. Each was placed in their respective incubators.
The father, Paul Jackson, learnt from the nurse that that while things looked well right now, things could turn for the worse in the next 48-72 hours.
And so they did, when the twins were 3 weeks old, Brielle couldn’t breathe and was cold and turning blue. To save her, for the first time, a nurse broke protocol and placed the twins together in the same incubator. This was a novel procedure at the time as it was never done in the USA. Brielle’s vital signs stabalised when Kyrie put her arm around her sister.
The standard procedure followed by hospitals, at the time, was to place premature twins in separate incubators. This reduced the risk of infection. The neonatal intensive care unit at The Medical Center of Central Massachusetts in Worcester followed this process.
Health issues
Kyrie was considered healthy as she weighed two pounds, three ounces, and kept gaining weight while sleeping well. Yet, Brielle, weighed only two pounds at birth and had a slower weight gain. Additionally, her vital signs, breathing and heart rate were irregular and kept dropping.
On November 12th, Brielle was under a critical condition. She had difficulty breathing and her blood-oxygen levels were dropping. Her skin was turning blue-gray and she had hiccups – signs that her body was under stress. The father and mother both were fearing for the worst.
Saving Brielle
The nurse, Gayle Kasparian, tried to save Brielle using conventional remedies. She tried to improve the oxygen flow through the incubator, suctioned her breathing passages, held her, and had her dad hold her. But, Brielle’s oxygen intake kept plummeting and her heart rate increased.
Then, Kasparian remembered her conversation with a colleague. She had heard of a procedure where double-bedding multiple birth babies was performed in some parts Europe. Kasparian’s manager, Susan Fitzback, was attending a conference. Kasparian decided to risk the unorthodox arrangement.
Kasparian said to the parents, “let me just try putting Brielle in with her sister to see if that helps, I don’t know what else to do.”
With the parent’s permission, Kasparian placed the healthy Kyrie into the incubator with Brielle. The Jacksons and Kasparian watched.
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The Rescuing Hug
Within a few minutes, Brielle’s blood-oxygen levels returned to a normal which was not seen since her birth. Her crying stopped and her color returned to normal. As she went to sleep, Kyrie wrapped her arm around her sister. The twins hugging was called the rescuing hug.
An Irony
The conference Fitzback was attending had a presentation on double-bedding. She wanted to include this as a normal procedure at the Medical Center even if it would have been difficult to put in place.
On her return, Kasparian beckoned Fitzback, “Sue, take a look in that isolette over there. Surprised, Fitzback replied, “I can’t believe this. This is so beautiful.”
Kasparian asked Fitzback, “You mean, we can do it?” To which Fitzback replied, “Of course we can.”
Looking ahead
Co-bedding is used in every institution as a special treatment for newborn. It seems to reduce the number of hospital days and the risk factors. The University of Massachusetts memorial, has co-bedded over 100 sets of multiple premature births. Over the five years that this practice has been done, there has been no case of twin-to-twin infection. Additionally, clinical studies show that twins enjoy many benefits when they are placed in the same bed.
In time, the twins went home and their parents placed them in the same bed where they continued to thrive. After five years, the parents mentioned that the twins still slept together.
The twins are all grown up. Here’s a 2013 CNN report on Brielle and Kyrie that shows where they are now.
