The moments immediately after birth are powerful, emotional, and incredibly important for both mom and baby. One of the simplest and most beneficial things you can do during this time is hold your baby skin-to-skin. In most cases, newborns can be placed directly onto their parent’s chest right after birth, where they are covered with warm blankets and welcomed gently into the world.
Newborns placed directly onto the chest gives you the opportunity to cuddle up with babe, see their sweet face for the first time, and begin bonding for the next hour or two. Skin-to-skin contact releases oxytocin for both mom and baby to help you both feel safe and calm. Babies who are placed in skin-to-skin contact within the first few minutes following birth cry less during the first hour or two of life. Skin-to-skin contact helps baby adapt to their new environment. Studies have shown that it is superior for preventing hypothermia in newborns, even when compared to the babies being cared for in a warmer or dressed and placed in a crib. As baby rests skin-to-skin on your chest, hearing your heartbeat again quickly comforts them and makes the transition to the outside world gentler. This also helps to regulates baby’s heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and blood sugar. Skin-to-skin helps promote baby’s physical and mental development. Research has shown that, given the chance, many babies only minutes old will crawl up to the breast from the parent’s abdomen, latch on, and start breastfeeding all by themselves. The amniotic fluid that coats baby and your skin smells and tastes familiar to them, and this will attract your baby to the breast and encourage their first feeding attempts. Skin-to-skin contact encourages your baby to eat often, which helps to establish and maintain your milk supply, if breastfeeding. If for some reason you are unable to hold your baby, then your birth partner can hold baby skin-to-skin. Skin-to-skin is a great way for baby to bond. Babies love to hear and feel comforted by the voices they’re used to. Premature babies and babies born via C-Section can receive all of the benefits from skin-to-skin as well!Skin-to-skin contact is one of the most natural and beneficial ways to welcome your baby after birth. Even if birth does not go exactly as planned, skin-to-skin can still play an important role. Cesarean babies, premature babies, and babies held skin-to-skin by a birth partner can all experience the calming, comforting benefits of close contact. As your baby listens to the familiar sound of your heartbeat and feels the warmth of your touch, they are reminded that they are safe, loved, and exactly where they belong.
