Human touch is one of the most powerful of healing modalities and there are some wounds we hold that can only be healed by the gentle touch of another human being.

This is a very emotional subject, but also a very rewarding job for those who want to give their energy to children who are born addicted to opiates. It is a  little like being the temporary mother or father to these special babies who are fighting for their lives.

These babies are in an unfortunate position which is out of their control, and the touch from loving strangers may just be the solution to their healing.

Deaths related to heroin have increased 439% from 1999 to 2014, and in 2015 opioids were involved in 28,647 deaths, although heroin was only responsible for 10,574 of those deaths. This shows the rise and danger of legal prescription opiate based painkillers such as co codamol and tramadol, as well as illegal drugs such as heroin.

This is resulting in more and more babies being born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)- a condition that occur in newborns who have been exposed to opiates during pregnancy.

The children born with NAS require special care to survive the process of withdrawing from the opiates and part of that is done with the help of specially-trained hand on volunteers who provide human touch as a form of healing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported a 383% increase in the cases of NAS since 2000 in the US, meaning there is a huge opportunity for selfless adults who are willing to give their time.

As a result, many cuddle care programs have been popping up across the globe to soothe the babies born to these unfortunate circumstances.

One Pennsylvania nurse called Jane Cavanaugh started a volunteer program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and has been active in raising awareness- she told Philly.com “These babies going through withdrawal need to be held for extended periods,” she said. “They need human touch.”

Maribeth McLaughlin, chief nursing officer and vice president of Patient Care Services at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC in Pittsburgh, agrees and told Today.com. “They are very irritable; they are hard to console.

This is about swaddling them and giving them that comfort and safe, secure feeling.”

If you feel the call to help out with the human touch these children need you can get involved by typing “cuddle care volunteer programs” into Google and seeing it there are any programs in your area.

Thanks for reading and please share this message far and wide!

This Article is published under a Creative Commons Licence.

Originally published on: The Truth Theory