5 BENEFITS TO SKIN-TO-SKIN
Skin-to-skin contact is referred to as the moment after birth when the baby is immediately placed on the mother’s chest, but it doesn’t stop here. Skin-to-skin can and should be practiced by both parents as often as possible during the first few weeks of the baby’s life.
The best way to do it is by undressing the baby and putting them on your bare chest, covering yourselves with a towel, a gown, or a blanket to give extra warmth. Here are five benefits to skin-to-skin I have been told about before Alessia was born and found to be true.
IT GIVES THE BABY SECURITY AND SAFETY
Being born is a traumatic event. Think about it, you are safe inside the womb, and then something forces you to come out, people talking and handling you. It is traumatic and unexpected. On the other hand, babies who immediately have skin-to-skin contact make them feel secure. They know their mother’s scent, touch, voice, and most of all, her heartbeat.
REGULATES THEIR BODY TEMPERATURE
We can regulate our body’s temperature by sweating when hot and shivering when cold. Babies cannot do that for the first year or two of their lives. They rely on their parents to decide when they are hot or cold. Some studies show that the mother’s breasts can adjust their temperature based on the baby’s temperature requirements. Dads have this ability too, but slightly less accurate.
IMPROVES THEIR HEART AND LUNG FUNCTION
We have already established that being born is a traumatic event. Taking the first breath is also traumatic. It forces the lungs to inhale, and like any other thing, the more you practice, the better and easier it gets. Being held skin-to-skin encourages the baby and gives it the courage to keep doing it. Listening to the mother’s heartbeat gives them such comfort that they don’t fight the process.
ENCOURAGES THE BABY TO BREASTFEED
Skin-to-skin contact releases hormones in both mother and baby’s bodies. The mother’s hormone is called prolactin, and it encourages milk flow. The baby can smell the milk, and placed on the mother, it will try to find its way to the breast. All babies have this ability, premature babies included.
Reduces crying
Have you ever seen newborn kittens or puppies, actually any other animal? If they get separated from their mother, they both will cry out until they find each other. It’s the same with humans. When babies get separated from their mothers, they will cry until they find each other. Her body heat, heartbeat, scent, and the safety that she provides are all the baby wants.
Alessia did everything on the list above. After being born, she was immediately handed over to me. In the beginning, I didn’t understand why the midwife didn’t hold her until I got out of the bathtub, but later on, I understood.
The faster the baby and the mother can feel each other, the quicker they calm down, relax and begin life as a family.
We reached the bed (I had no idea how to move such a tiny human), and the midwife placed her on my chest, and she started to look for my breasts. When she finally got there, she began to eat and didn’t stop for almost an hour.
I had to go to the theater to get two stitches done as she has made a bit of a mess down there, and she stayed with Bryan for about 2 hours, and he said she was quiet, sleeping, or just relaxing.
She was enjoying his voice, his warmth, the safety that he provided for her. She knew him, she knew his body and voice.
Babies are brilliant and resourceful.
