Many antenatal coaches and experts these days suggest mothers to hold their baby close to their bare chest and keep them there for few moments right after the birth. This though looks like a new age approach but is a traditional practice which was abandoned after the number of C-section cases increased rapidly. Because a medical intervention sometimes makes it necessary to separate the baby and the mother after delivery stitching the scar, cleaning the baby and other medical necessities are often the reason for the separation.
However, studies suggest that holding a newborn on your bare skin after delivery has many benefits. Putting your baby on your chest right after birth helps to regulate heartbeat and temperature of the baby. It also helps protect the newborn against infections. Skin-to-skin, among other benefits, also helps to make the process of breastfeeding easier, with fewer hurdles. It also helps in the bonding of the mother and baby. In fact, further research also suggests that it settles the newborn by instilling a sense of calm and also helps the mother to lower her stress levels due to the strain of labour and delivery.
In fact, you don t have just to practice this in the hospital after birth. With your newborn you can do this as much as you can when you return home. Giving skin-to-skin to a colicky baby also helps to fight colic and soothe her system. It also makes it easier for the baby to accept and dwell in the environment that is so different from the womb. We don t realise it, but newborns too need time to adjust.
How to do it
Reference:
Vincent S. Skin-to-skin contact. Part one: just an hour of your time... Pract Midwife. 2011 May;14(5):40-1. PubMed PMID: 21675478.
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