‘Too Close for Comfort’
No such thing, when talking about the contact Mama has with her newborn baby!
Yes indeed. Mama getting her little one to indulge in some skin-to-skin contact with her, is perhaps one of the best possible things she might be able to do for her baby. Here’s an interesting bit of trivia: this kind of nurturing method is also commonly referred to as The Kangaroo Method. Clearly, no prizes for guessing why it is thus named!
In this article, we at EuroKids have carefully compiled an elaborate list of the benefits of skin-to-skin contact with your baby. You will see how that skin-to-skin contact after birth, goes a long way in supporting your baby’s health, both physical and mental.
Ready to peruse the many wonderful benefits of skin-to-skin contact with your little one? Delve right into the finer nuances of skin-to-skin contact with your baby, and see just why it makes for such a wonderfully holistic experience for your precious little angels! But first, a closer look at what exactly makes for ‘Skin-to-Skin Contact with Baby.’
Table of Contents
- Skin-to-Skin Contact with Baby: Decoding the Basics
- The Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact with your Baby
- The Disadvantages of Skin-to-Skin Contact with Baby
Skin-to-Skin Contact with Baby: Decoding the Basics
Skin-to-Skin Contact with Baby, or the Kangaroo Method, refers to the activity of Mama holding her little one to her bare chest.
It must be noted here, that all that baby needs to be wearing here is a diaper, and perhaps a pair of socks, to help keep them warm. This kind of care can be given to babies in the hospital after they have been born, or even after they arrive home. That being said, while there is no particular ‘time limit’ that you need to set while performing the Kangaroo Method, it wouldn’t harm mother or baby to indulge in it for as long as possible.
Needless to say, there’s a plethora of benefits that stem from all that skin-to-skin contact after birth, Hop on to the next section, to find out just that!
The Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact with your Baby
There’s plenty of benefits that can be accrued from all that skin-to-skin contact with your baby.
Presenting the top benefits of skin-to-skin contact after birth, that will ensure you want to snuggle up with your little one held as close to you as possible!
- Decreases Stress Levels in both Mother and Baby
- Promotes a sense of Bonding
- Helps to regulate Baby’s Body Temperature
- Reduction in Postpartum Stress and Depression
- A Smooth Transition from the Womb
- Can be done by Daddies, too!
Childbirth is a process that brings along with it plenty of stress, for both the mother and the little child for whom everything is drastically ‘new’. All that skin-to-skin contact with the baby, will ensure that the stress levels of both parent and baby are kept well at bay!
Cool Fact: What that physical contact with a baby does effectively, is to release the hormone Oxytocin, that is the natural ‘feel-good’ chemical for Baby!
The one thing all parents desire most, is to bond well with their little ones!
Cool Fact: That bonding experience will be taken to the next level with all that skin-to-skin contact. So much so, that it will make it far easier to breastfeed them!
Did you know that your body can actually act as a sort of ‘incubator’, thus working to regulate the temperature of your baby?
Bonus: Apart from regulating your baby’s temperature, that skin-to-skin contact also helps stabilize their heartbeat and breathing!
As we mentioned earlier, skin-to-skin contact with your baby is not only beneficial to your little ones, but for their mothers, too!
Cool Fact: It’s the ‘happy hormones’ that are released when Mama holds the baby against her skin, that helps stave off unwanted conditions like postpartum depression in the long run.
Placing a baby close to Mama’s chest, helps them transition more effectively to a world that is completely alien to them.
Cool Fact: It has been observed that babies that are held close to their mothers shortly after birth, are on the whole more stable, both physically and mentally.
Just in case you were thinking that Mama is the only one who gets to snuggle tight with Baby, think again. Daddy can do the job just as well!
Cool Tip: All that Daddy needs, just like Mama, is clothing that opens in the front, and they are good to go where it comes to skin-to-skin contact after birth!
The Disadvantages of Skin-to-Skin Contact with Baby
It’s certainly hard to imagine that there might be any kind of disadvantages that arise from all that skin-to-skin contact after birth.
Presenting a couple of disadvantages of skin-to-skin contact with your baby.
- Falling from the maternal bed
- Baby getting suffocated
It must be noted here, that the above are not common, but rather, rare instances.
At EuroKids we believe that skin-to-skin contact with your baby indeed makes for an intense bonding experience. We encourage all mothers out there to enjoy skin-to-skin contact after birth. Go on out there, and get closer to your baby, by ‘literally’ bringing them closer to you!
