Skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth

The direct contact between the mother and the healthy newborn immediately after birth is precious and indispensable. It makes it easier for the baby to adapt to the external environment, encourages the establishment of a close relationship between the mother and the baby and a good and successful initiation of breastfeeding.

Mother is here again!  

Through the skin, the newborn feels the warmth of your body and your touch; he/she has a feeling of being hugged. He/she hears your familiar voice and your heartbeat, an already familiar sound. Makes eye contact. The first eye contact between the mother and the baby is a moment whose significance cannot be emphasized enough, it is a moment you will never forget. This intense moment is often decisive for the mother's decision to breastfeed.

Body contact

The baby's contact with the mother's body calms both the mother and the child, helps to stabilize the child's heart rhythm and breathing, keeps the child warm thanks to the mother's body heat, helps in the newborn's metabolic adjustment and stabilization of blood sugar, prevents the child's crying, reducing stress and energy consumption, enables colonization of the child by maternal bacteria, facilitates the connection between mother and child, allows the baby to find the breast and latch on with his/her mouth.

Recommendations

  • Contact should be made immediately, even before cutting the umbilical cord, or as soon as possible during the first few minutes.
  • The duration of contact should be at least one hour.
  • A cesarean section under spinal/epidural anesthesia also allows skin-to-skin contact.
  • In case of a caesarean section under general anesthesia, the baby can make contact with the father immediately after birth, and with the mother after she wakes up (in several hours).
  • In twins, the first twin can have physical contact with the mother until the birth of the second one begins.

How to provide skin-to-skin contact

  • The naked child is put on the mother's bare chest and abdomen.
  • The child can be wiped before this to stimulate breathing and crying. The palms are not wiped, the familiar smell of amniotic fluid soothes the newborn.
  • The child is positioned on the mother's abdomen on his/her tummy, with arms open, legs slightly apart and bent.
  • The child must have a hat put on and be covered with a towel or compress.
  • The nose and mouth must not be covered, the head is turned to the side, with the neck straight without leaning forward, to ensure the airways are open.

If you are worried that you will be tired after the birth, you should know that there is nothing that will relax you more and make you happier than close contact with your baby! If you are worried that the baby will be sleepy, you should know that in the first hours after birth, the newborn is awake, the senses of smell and taste are acute, he/she is ready for breastfeeding. If you are worried whether your baby is well, you should know that the delivery room staff are vigilantly monitoring you and your baby.