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.