Skin-to-Skin

In a Nutshell

After birth and beyond, your newborn baby’s habitat is skin to skin, ideally with you, but with your partner or relative as well. Babies are born with immature nervous systems. Having a baby snuggled up against your body helps them regulate their breathing, temperature, and heart rate. Skin to skin also promotes bonding and helps your breastmilk come in.

Dig Deeper

In normal, physiologic birth your body is baby’s natural habitat, in utero and out. After birth, even though they become more separate, babies still form a symbiotic, connected unit with you. The newborn is also seeded with good bacteria from their parent's skin that helps them thrive in their home environment.

Note: Skin to skin means nothing is between the skin and baby! This means baby is not

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Immediate Skin to Skin in Operating Room

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