Most parents would be understandably nervous to change their newborn's nappy for the first time. But for Jodie Harris, seeing her premature baby wreathed in tubes and drips inside an incubator, she felt frightened.
"I was scared to touch her; Georgia was tiny and covered in wires and the thought of fumbling my way through and lifting up her bottom was too much," she said.
It was only when nurses at the Royal Hospital for Women's Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) laid pink-skinned Georgia – born at 32 weeks and weighing just 975 grams – on Jodie's chest for "kangaroo cuddles" that her fears disappeared.
"As soon as she felt me, she stopped crying and curled up into her foetal position. She just knows the voices, the heartbeat, and that's what they need to grow, not just nutrients, but love."
Parents at the Royal's NICU – the largest in NSW – are encouraged to get hands-on with the care of their fragile, premature babies, taking on some of the roles normally reserved for nurses, under an emerging model of care called Family Integrated Care (FIC).
Even if their baby is no bigger than a tub of butter, they are taught to wash, weigh and change nappies, as well as take their temperature and feed them using tiny syringes, in a bid to boost outcomes.
Professor Kei Lui, who implemented FIC at the Royal in Randwick in 2014 as part of an international study, said while they couldn't say it increased survival rates, it definitely had benefits and the program would continue to run.
The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health this year, found premature babies thrived under this model of care, putting on an average of two grams a day more than those receiving standard care.
"Two grams a day is quite substantial when these babies are only about one kilo," Professor Lui said.
"Traditionally, parents were bystanders, they didn't touch them too often because of germs, they stared at their baby lying inside the glasshouse, but now we know getting them involved is good for everyone."
The study also showed the program caused a marked drop in the parents' anxiety levels.
Parents are also encouraged to give skin-to-skin care, or "kangaroo cuddles", for up to six hours a day, and to become more involved in clinical decisions.
Professor Lui will be among the international FIC experts gathering at a conference in Sydney on Saturday to discuss the latest research and hear stories from parents.
One of the speakers, Professor Karen Benzies from the University of Calgary in Canada, said FIC required a "cultural shift" and "change was always challenging".
"At the start some nurses were sceptical, but when they actually see it in action, they are soon sold on it. There are always a few late adopters," she said.
She will be discussing her efforts to adapt the program for Level 2 NICU care, where babies are out of acute danger.
Nurseries offering Level 2 care are more common. If the program is tailored for Level 2, it would give it a much wider reach, allowing parents to take charge of their premature babies in hospitals closer to home, such as those at Dubbo, Wollongong and Gosford.
NSW Health said while it welcomed the FIC study results, the state's eight NICUs would continue to choose the best model of care based on their local area's needs and priorities.
"We note that further research is needed to understand the impact of FIC on families in the long term," a spokesperson said.
This week, after three exhausting months and two surgeries to repair her oesophagus, Jodie and her husband Kevin Harris (De Bari) took Georgia, now 2.5kg, home.
"We want to be in our little bubble, just chilling on the couch," she said.
