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• What are the benefits of skin-to-skin contact after birth?

  Dr Sarah Buckley, international expert on mother and infant bonding says:

  “Birth is a major transition for the baby, and newborns have high levels of adrenaline/noradrenaline; the hormones of stress and excitement. Skin to skin care after birth soothes babies and reduces stress, leading to benefits in adapting to life outside the womb.

  “Studies have shown that, during skin to skin care immediately after birth, newborns have better temperature regulation, higher blood sugars, lower breathing rates and less crying, compared to babies who are separated and wrapped, One study showed that newborns who had enjoyed early skin to skin had warmer hands and feet – a sign of lower levels of stress hormones – up to two days later. Another study showed that, after skin to skin care, newborns had more organized behavior, more quiet sleep and more resistance to pain, again reflecting lower levels of stress and stress hormones.

  “Skin to skin contact also helps the newborn to enact their instinctive behaviors, including breastfeeding behaviour. Newborns of every species are born with high levels of alertness and instinctively know how to find the mothers nipple and self-attach. Human babies are no exception, and a healthy, undrugged newborn is able to crawl up the mothers belly, find her breast and attach without assistance. Several studies have shown earlier and more successful breastfeeding when mothers and babies enjoy skin to skin contact after birth. However babies exposed to pain killing drugs in labour or separated in the crucial first hour (even for routine checks and/or weighing) are less likely to successfully self-attach, which may result in more difficulty breastfeeding. These babies may need even longer periods of skin to skin to help them enact their instinctive behaviours.

  “Skin to skin contact also benefits the mother, who releases high levels of oxytocin, the hormone of love, when skin to skin with her newborn. This helps her uterus to contact and prevents bleeding after birth (postpartum haemorrhage (PPH)) . Some studies have shown that mothers who had enjoyed skin to skin contact after birth are more affectionate with their babies, even several years later.”

CANA is a participating organisation under the umbrella of the Maternity Coalition Inc. Website copyright (c) CANA 2006. Updated January 2008.