Presented by Hope for HIE and the Newborn Brain Society
In April 2026, during HIE Awareness Month, Hope for HIE and the Newborn Brain Society are partnering to improve family-centered care for babies and families facing neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Together, they are launching Polar Bear Care through a worldwide Hold-a-thon, encouraging NICUs around the world to implement this family-centered, trauma-informed practice.
Families consistently describe the period surrounding an HIE diagnosis and therapeutic hypothermia as confusing, frightening, and isolating. Parents want to comfort their baby and participate in care, yet often report uncertainty about what is safe, allowed, or possible.
Family-centered and trauma-informed care recognize that parents are not visitors—they are essential members of the care team. When families are provided with clear information, choice, and opportunities for safe connection, many report feeling more included and better supported during a crisis.
Hope for HIE's Medical Advisory Board Chair and child neurologist, Dr. Alexa Craig, is one of the global leaders in research and quality improvement for this initiative, also serving as chair of the Newborn Brain Society's educational committee, co-leading with Dr. Elizabeth Sewell, and several nurse leaders.
This campaign brings together lived experiences and unmet needs of HIE families, and aims to improve trauma-informed, family-centered care for the HIE population.
Both family reported impacts in the HIE community, and published studies have shown that developmental care during therapeutic hypothermia (cooling) such as facilitating holding, "hand hugs" and other therapeutic touch, decreases the impact of trauma for both babies and parents, lowers cortisol, improves parental well-being and other factors.
Polar Bear Care looks at what ways families can safely and effectively promote bonding during Therapeutic Hypothermia (cooling) including:
In short, improving family-centered, trauma-informed care for HIE babies and families.
The HIE Hold-A-Thon supports NICU teams in reviewing and strengthening multidisciplinary approaches to family presence, holding, and supportive touch during therapeutic hypothermia drawing on other successful hold-a-thons that take place in the NICU setting for other populations such as kangaroo care.
The initiative draws on:
Participating sites engage in education, discussion, and internal review focused on how families experience care during therapeutic hypothermia.
The Hold-A-Thon is voluntary and non-prescriptive. Each NICU maintains full clinical autonomy and determines what is appropriate within existing policies, staffing models, and patient safety considerations.
This is not a competition. There are no holding targets, no required metrics, and no patient-level data collection. The emphasis is on education, reflection, and practice improvement—not performance measurement.
Polar Bear Care empowers parents to hold their baby during therapeutic hypothermia, when medically appropriate, while intentionally applying the six principles of trauma-informed care:
Polar Bear Care helps restore a sense of safety, agency, and connection at a time when parents often feel powerless.
Safety is always the priority.
While direct skin-to-skin care is not recommended during therapeutic hypothermia—because it may raise an infant’s temperature outside the therapeutic range—holding is possible and safe for many infants when done on the cooling blanket with appropriate planning and monitoring.
When holding is offered:
Holding is never mandatory. It is an option, offered when safe, and always guided by parental choice. There are other parts of Polar Bear Care that can be done if holding isn't clinically appropriate, such as hand hugs and other therapeutic touch.
Even when an infant is not stable enough to be held, positive touch remains essential.
Parents can provide comfort through:
Connection is never all-or-nothing.
A comprehensive toolkit is build for NICU leaders to help implement this initiative during April's HIE Awareness Month. Families in the NICU can also inquire about holding their babies during therapeutic hypothermia.
More information is available at PolarBearCare.org.
Learn more about the HIE Hold-A-Thon and Polar Bear Care initiative at polarbearcare.org.
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