When you have a new baby, you'll undoubtedly spend a lot of time holding them. More likely than not, your health care team will advise you to practice skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, which has all kinds of benefits for parents and babies alike. While often touted as a strategy for preemies or babies that need extra medical attention after birth, skin-to-skin contact can have positive effects for all infants. Read on to learn more about the benefits of kangaroo care, along with how to practice it with your little one at home.
What Is Skin-to-Skin Contact?
Skin-to-skin contact between parents and newborns was first used in neonatal wards in Bogota, Colombia, which had a shortage of incubators for babies with severe hospital infections. Neonatologists Edgar Rey and Hector Martinez considered the behavior of kangaroos, who hold their young as soon as they are born. They sent new parents home with instructions to hold their infants diapered, but bare-chested, between their breasts in an upright position as often as possible, while feeding them only breast milk.
What the doctors found was that this skin-to-skin contact not only allowed patients to leave the hospitals (which decreased overcrowding) but it also decreased the babies' dependency on incubators. And the most astounding? The doctors watched as mortality rates plunged, allowing infants with low birth weight to survive against previous odds.
Now doctors across the United States, South America, South Africa, and other countries recommend this skin-to-skin contact to new parents of both premature and full-term infants. The bonding should last from 60 minutes to 24 hours a day, and it can be performed by parents of any sex.
Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact
From mental development to adaptability and beyond, there are a host of physical, mental, and emotional benefits of skin-to-skin contact for your baby. "Physiology and research provide overwhelming evidence that kangaroo mother care is not only safe but superior to the use of technology such as incubators," says says Nils Bergman, MB ChB, MPH, MD, senior medical superintendent of Mowbray Maternity Hospital in Cape Town, Africa, where doctors deliver 7,000 children a year. "Depriving babies of skin-to-skin makes alternative stress pathways in the brain, which can lead to ADD, colic, sleep disorders, among other things."
Below, you can find some of the benefits of kangaroo care.
Better Adaptability Outside the Womb
After all, when your baby was in the womb, they didn't need to regulate their own temperature. Since your skin is the same temperature as the womb, your newborn will find it easier to adapt to their post-birth environment. "Thermal regulation is a very common problem with infants, especially preterm babies," says Malika D. Shah, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and neonatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Boosted Mental Development
Preemies who received kangaroo care had better brain functioning at 15 years old—comparable to that of adolescents born at term—than those who had been placed in incubators, reported a Canadian study. By stabilizing heart rate, oxygenation, and improving sleep with skin-to-skin, the brain is better able to develop.
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Promotion of Healthy Weight
One Cochrane Library review concluded that skin-to-skin contact dramatically promotes healthy newborn weight gain, by allowing them to conserve energy otherwise needed to regulate their body temperature. Plus, kangarooed babies enjoy increased breastfeeding rates, which also correlates with healthy weight gain.
Increased Success With Breastfeeding
"Newborns instinctively have a heightened sense of smell, so placing your baby skin-to-skin helps them seek out the nipple and begin breastfeeding," explains Katie Dunning, RN, clinical coordinator of labor and delivery at Mount Sinai Hospital. In fact, research shows that nursing parents who practice kangaroo care are more likely to breastfeed exclusively and, on average, these parents breastfeed longer than those who don't practice skin-to-skin care.
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Healthier Heart Rate and Respiration
Babies who suffer from respiratory distress and stayed in kangaroo care positions are more likely to be relieved within 48 hours without respirators. Studies also show that heart rates for infants given kangaroo care are more regular than babies not given it.
Improved Immunity
Kangaroo care can also help boost your baby's immunity right from the start—a benefit that's particularly important for preemies. "Premature [babies] seem to have poor immune systems—[they're] susceptible to allergies, infections, feeding problems. Early skin-to-skin contact dramatically reduces these problems," says Bergman.
Increased Milk Supply
When the breastfeeding parent and baby are together in the skin-to-skin pose, hormones that regulate lactation balance out, helping you produce more milk, Dr. Shah says.
Reduced Fetal Stress and Pain
Just 10 minutes of skin-to-skin contact reduces babies' levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and increases levels of the "cuddle hormone" oxytocin, which stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system to make babies feel calm and safe, says Susan M. Ludington, RN, CNM, Ph.D., FAAN, who has been studying kangaroo care since 1988 and conducted the United States's first research study of the method. Ludington's research shows that when preterm infants are held chest-to-chest, they react less to heel sticks, a minimally invasive way to draw blood, and a common source of pain among preemies.
Better Sleep for Baby
Less stress equals better sleep. Preemies who are cradled skin-to-skin are prone to sleeping more deeply and wake up less often than those who sleep in incubators.
Bonding With All Parents
It's important to note that skin-to-skin contact can be practiced with parents of any sex, and it doesn't have to be only a breastfeeding parent. "From their time in the womb, babies recognize their fathers' voice," says kangaroo care researcher Gene Cranston Anderson, PhD, RN, professor emeritus of nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "Babies find skin-to-skin contact...calming, and it helps them bond."
Prevention of Postpartum Depression
Various studies show that kangaroo care reduces the likelihood of postpartum depression. According to research, activity in the parent's adrenal axis is negatively influenced by childbirth, and skin-to-skin contact may reactivate the pathways to minimize the risk of depression. Plus, oxytocin released from skin-to-skin care decreases maternal anxiety and promotes attachment, further reducing the risk.
How to Practice Skin-to-Skin Contact
When it comes to kangaroo care, more is better, but according to Ludington, the first two hours after birth are the most important.
After that, continued skin-to-skin contact can still be beneficial, especially for preemies that have low birth weights and are unable to regulate their own temperature. Consider it an alternative to an incubator, says Dr. Shah, who recommends preemies get frequent kangaroo care for the first 20-plus weeks of life. "Do it as long as both baby and parents enjoy it," she says. When your baby starts fussing and trying to get off of your chest, it's a good sign it's time to let them do their own thing.
Here's how to get started with kangaroo care:
- Parents should be seated comfortably in a quiet, dimly lit room with some privacy.
- Position the baby, dressed in diaper on your bare chest for a minimum of 20 minutes. For warmth, you can cover the baby's shoulders and back with a blanket, as long as their chest is skin-to-skin with yours. Always be sure that any blankets are away from your baby's face.
- This bonding time can be experienced by parents of any sex. If kangaroo care is performed around feedings, place the baby with the non-breastfeeding parent after they have been fed.
There are no limits with how often you can practice kangaroo care, so experiment with different times of day to see what works for you and your baby. If you find yourself with questions or concerns about your baby's development, always be sure to consult a pediatrician or health care provider.
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