If you loved the skin-to-skin contact you had with your baby just after childbirth, we have good news. This contact has benefits well beyond birth. Some health and development experts recommend it for at least 3 months for full-term babies and 6 months for preemies.
Skin-to-skin contact just after birth has been proven to help maintain or improve the infant’s body temperature, digestion, blood-oxygen levels, heartbeat, sleep and even the immune system (mom passes antibodies to the infant through her skin and her breast milk). It also helps the baby initiate breastfeeding and, for the mom, promotes improved milk production, less postpartum bleeding and a lower risk of postpartum depression.
Once you’re both back home, daily skin-to-skin contact promotes mom and baby bonding and, for your baby, full sleep and wake cycles and even brain development from the positive sensory stimulation.
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