Why this book exists
All newborns deserve to feel held, safe, and loved from the start.
Parents also deserve to feel connected, supported, and confident as they begin caring for their baby.
Across birth, home birth, postpartum care, mother-baby units, NICUs, PICUs, pediatric units, hospital stays, and the transition home, Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care may be encouraged — but the deeper understanding of why it matters can easily get lost.
This book was created to fill that gap.
It gives families, caregivers, and care teams a shared language for closeness, safety, connection, and care — in a format that can be read quickly, understood easily, and revisited often.
A Shared Starting Point for Families and Care Teams
This book is not a clinical guideline.
It does not replace hospital policy, clinical judgment, individualized care, or hands-on education from the care team.
It was created to support those conversations.
When this book is shared early, it gives families and care teams a gentle foundation before or alongside education, orientation, bedside teaching, or transition-home conversations. It introduces the meaning and science of Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care in a warm, accessible, and non-overwhelming way.
It supports shared understanding so every conversation does not have to begin from zero.
What the book is
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Brief and accessible
Written in a warm, poetic voice that is easy to read, share, and revisit
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For families and care teams
Designed to support family education, bedside teaching, and shared understanding.
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Evidence-Informed and Trauma-Informed
Grounded in evidence. Guided by trauma-informed care. Written with tenderness.
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Not a clinical guideline
A supportive educational book that complements — but does not replace — hospital policies, clinical judgment, individualized care, or hands-on education.
Who Can Use It
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Families
A gentle, supportive introduction to closeness, connection, and Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care—helping families understand the science and meaning of holding without feeling overwhelmed.
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Clinicians
This book introduces the meaning and science of Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care in a way that is easy to understand, easy to teach, and easy to share—supporting staff onboarding, consistent family education, parent confidence, and stronger participation from admission through discharge.
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Birth Workers, Volunteers, and Educators
A warm, accessible tool for introducing closeness, voice, touch, and Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care from birth and beyond.
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Organizations or Hospitals
One book. Multiple points of impact.
A high-value education resource for hospitals, health systems, and organizations serving newborns and families—created to support family engagement, staff teaching, parent support programs, discharge education, and home transition conversations with compassion and clarity.
Grounded in Science. Written with Tenderness.
This book brings together lived NICU experience, trauma-informed care, ergonomics, developmental care, and the evidence supporting closeness and Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care.
It was written by Yamile C. Jackson, PhD, PE, PMP, an ergonomics, human factors, and safety engineer; founder of Kangaroo Care Day®; creator of The Zaky®; and mother of Zachary, who was born prematurely and inspired her lifelong mission to advance safe closeness for babies and families.
Inside the Book
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A Poem Born from Holding Her Son
The book begins with a heartfelt poem about what holding her son in Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care came to mean to the author: closeness, safety, healing, and care.
It gives clinicians a window into the parent experience and gives parents words they can read aloud while holding their baby skin-to-skin — creating a quiet moment of voice and touch.
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Reflection Pages
Readers are invited to pause, write, draw, or capture memories of closeness in their own way and at their own pace.
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A Shared Foundation for Care
The book includes a concise, accessible introduction to Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care — giving everyone who supports babies and parents a shared understanding of why closeness matters.
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Designed for Busy Moments
The book can be read in less than 30 minutes and revisited often, making it a practical resource for early education, bedside teaching, reflection, and conversations between families, caregivers, and care teams.
Editions Available
Available in English and Spanish, in both softcover and hardcover, When Your Heart Touches Mine is an 8.5 × 8.5-inch, 64-page, full-color illustrated book created to support families, clinicians, hospitals, birth workers, parent organizations, and communities serving diverse families.
Bring the power of closeness to your families and team
Use this book to support education, reflection, and shared understanding of Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care from birth and beyond — across home birth, mother-baby units, NICUs, PICUs, pediatric units, and transition-home programs.
Many teams use this book as part of:
• Baby/family welcome packages
• Admission education
• Mother-baby and NICU family education
• Home birth and birth worker resources
• PICU and pediatric family support
• Discharge and transition-home education
• Staff education and reflection
• Volunteer and peer-support programs
• Family-centered care programs
• Trauma-informed and neuroprotective care initiatives
• Kangaroo Care Day® celebrations
A Note from the Author
I wrote this book because all newborns deserve to feel held, safe, and loved from the start — and because families and care teams need a simple, shared way to understand why closeness matters.
When I gave birth to Zachary prematurely in 2001, he weighed less than two pounds. In the NICU, I learned that holding him skin-to-skin was not just comfort. It was care. It was safety. It was healing. During a hospital flood that left his life-support equipment without power, closeness also became part of his survival.
That experience became my life’s work.
For more than two decades, I have worked to make Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care safer, more understood, more measurable, and more sustainable — through Kangaroo Care Day®, The Zaky ZAK®, The Zaky HUG®, The Zaky® APP, and now, this book.
This book was created to fill a gap: to give families and care teams a shared language for closeness, safety, connection, and care when time for teaching is short.
It is one way I give back to the world that saved my son’s life. I am eternally grateful.
— Yamile C. Jackson, PhD, PE, PMP
Founder, Kangaroo Care Day®
CEO, Nurtured by Design®
Creator of The Zaky®
A Shared System for Safe, Sustainable Closeness
When Your Heart Touches Mine: The Power of Closeness gives families and clinicians a shared, gentle, evidence-informed way to understand why Skin-to-Skin (Kangaroo) Care matters.
It is part of a broader system engineered to make closeness safer, more understood, more measurable, and more sustainable.