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                    • Neonatal intensive care unit »
                    • Skin-to-skin care

                    Skin-to-skin care

                    Holding your baby skin-to-skin right after birth and during the first six months of life is good for babies and parents.

                    Why hold your baby skin-to-skin?

                    When you hold your baby against your skin, they:

                    • feel safer, happier and less irritable
                    • are more likely to have a healthy heart rate and easier breathing
                    • stay warm
                    • can breastfeed sooner, better and longer, and are more likely to find a good latch
                    • bond with you more easily
                    • have better sleep 

                    How skin-to-skin care helps you

                    Skin-to-skin care benefits moms too. It can:

                    • increase a mother’s milk supply and make feeding more comfortable
                    • decrease the time it takes for your womb to go back to its normal size
                    • decrease the amount of blood you lose after the birth
                    • increase your confidence in caring for your newborn
                    • prevent postpartum depression 
                    • regulate maternal blood pressure

                    Partners can also do skin-to-skin

                    Your partner can also do skin-to-skin care with the baby to help with bonding and keep the baby comfortable. This is also helpful when the mother is too tired or sick to hold the baby.

                    Partners cannot regulate a baby’s temperature like the mother can, so you should check the baby’s temperature during skin-to-skin.

                    Checklist for safely holding your baby skin-to-skin

                    • baby is wearing a hat and diaper
                    • baby's neck is straight and is bare chest-to-chest with you
                    • baby's head is turned to one side
                    • baby's face is visible, with nose and mouth not covered
                    • baby's legs are flexed
                    • you are slightly upright (not lying flat)
                    • baby's back is covered with a warm blanket

                    Questions?

                    Ask your nurse for more information on skin-to-skin care.

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                    We acknowledge that what we refer to as Alberta is the traditional ancestral territory of a diversity of Indigenous peoples and home to Treaty 6, 7 and 8. We recognize and give thanks to the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations, all who continue to grace these lands and all future generations. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude.

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