Why is skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth so important?
Although it is an innate desire of a new mother to hold her baby closely straight after birth (with no textiles between them), there is a multitude of scientifically proven benefits to support this instinctive behaviour.
First and foremost it encourages the ‘9 stages of baby’s self-attaching and feeding at the breast’:
1. Birth cry
2. Relaxation, where they seem to ‘recover’ from birth
3. Awakening, with opening their eyes and reacting to their mother’s voice
4. Activity, although the movements may only be very small initially, followed by another
5. Rest
6. Crawling – eventually baby should appear to begin ‘crawling’ towards the breast
7. Familiarisation – baby will slowly explore the breast and nipple area, often taking its time to smell, nuzzle or lick to find out how to best attach itself; it is best to allow it as much time as it wants and not interrupt the process
8. Suckle – eventually baby is ready to take its first drink which can be tiring for both mum and bub, so they will likely doze off and have a little
9. Sleep
Ideally this process should not be disturbed, and hospital staff should work around this vital bonding process with any of their tasks and checks, as encouraged by ‘The Baby Friendly Initiative’ of Unicef UK, which also describes the many other benefits this process in that magical first hour provides.
Immediate direct skin-to-skin contact after birth also has a multitude of other advantages:
All the maternal hormones will be released, along with the milk-making hormones prolactin and oxytocin, enabling feeding and stimulating digestion. Following skin-to-skin contact will increase milk volume and antibodies if a mother chooses to express. Skin-to-skin contact also improves brain development, oxygen saturation and has a calming effect on both mum and bub, also because the baby is back to hearing the mother’s heartbeat it has become so accustomed to. At the same time it helps regulating the temperature, and enhances the overall bonding. The oxytocin will also help mum to reduce anxiety and the likelihood of postpartum depression, and is even thought to help with postpartum bleeding.
The experience can even be taken up a notch by ‘wrapping’ mother and baby together. This method, known as ‘kangaroo care’ has proven to be particularly successful with premature babies, as it reduces the stress hormone cortisol, helps the baby to maintain its body temperature (called thermoregulation) and assists with stabilising its heartbeat and breathing pattern. It even assists with baby’s digestion as somatostatin levels are reduced, which enables its body help to better preserve healthy fat which in turn is supports for maintaining birth weight.
An article by Sanford Health describes how their hospital staff will still try to include skin-to-skin care for very ill babies who need to be transferred to neonatal intensive care units, as such highly technical environments with all their sounds, tests, etc. are very stressful for a newborn and a rude shock compared with the warm and calm environment they have just emerged from. So when they are connected to all kinds of monitors and devices, skin-to-skin contact is even more valuable to help them relax and adjust to a life outside the womb and their survival rate increases.
Various studies have demonstrated that newborns with skin-to-skin contact following birth had a 36% lower death rate than those who hadn’t. They also had 50% less likelihood of developing sepsis, were 78% less likely to develop hypothermia and their risk of having dangerously low blood sugar reduced by 88%.
To intensify all of the above advantages, you might want to consider keeping up a skin-to-skin routine for a couple of months to give your little one the best possible start in life. Three months for full-term babies and six months for premature babies are recommended. Sit comfortably in a slightly reclined position, have baby on your chest, ensuring its head is tilted sideways, so the airways are not obstructed, cover yourselves with a shawl or blanket and enjoy the bonding time. About 1 hour is ideal, as this will allow the baby to complete a full sleep and wake cycle.
And last but not least – encourage your partner to some skin-to-skin bonding as well, to lay the groundworks for a truly happy and connected family.