Skin to skin
Many parents find that skin to skin contact is a wonderful way to help soothe and bond with their baby.
What does skin to skin contact mean?
Laying your newborn either nude or just wearing a nappy on your bare skin, perhaps under a blanket or dressing gown is how most parents enjoy skin to skin contact. Mothers often find that this contact increases their milk supply and fathers, and other caregivers enjoy how calm it can make a baby.
Benefits
- calming and relaxing for the caregiver and the baby
- helps baby to adapt to life outside the womb
- regulates baby's heart rate, breathing and temperature
- stimulates the baby's appetite and desire to feed
- increases levels of the feeding parent's hormone production, increasing milk supply.
Kangaroo care
'Kangaroo care' involves placing your baby skin-to-skin against you or your partner's chest. This close, physical contact helps to give your baby the best possible start and create a special bond between you.
For more information on the benefits of this, look at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust's award-winning project about Kangaroo Care.