Hi!
Hope that your assignment is going well. I'm sure you have found that there is alot of research on this subject.
I work in a small 18 bed NICU. We have 3 sections to our unit--not separate rooms. When twins are in Intensive care status they are put in whatever bed is available at the time. Being a small unit, this still puts them in rather close proximity.
We do cobed, but only after the babies are stable and able to be in an open crib. They are put in a regular size crib, not a small bassinet. Triplets are treated the same way. I have found, in my experience, that putting them in the same Isolette gets the babies too hot.
Cobedding in an open crib is beneficial for the babies. They seem to be more content and stay warm from being close to each other. I believe there is some literature that supports the idea that the babies grow faster and are able to go home sooner.
After the babies are cobedded, if one has some kind of problem, such as temp instability or infection, etc, they are separated until the sick one is well.
Guess the bottom line is that we cobed after the infants are stable and basically "growing premies". We never cobed sick or unstable infants.
This is rather scattered but was just typing as I thought of things. Hope was of some help. Let me know if I can answer any other questions. Have been a NICU RN for 27 years.
Good Luck!
Janet
South Carolina