Skin to skin with baby: new benefits discovered

Impossible not to stop cuddling our newborn baby, delicately touching his soft skin with the tip of the finger and burying our nose against him to breathe his scent at the top of his lungs … And that’s good! The skin-to-skin contact is so good for baby than to us by releasing oxytocin, promoting the bonds of attachment and slowing down the anxieties.

Skin of a newborn against that of its mother: the psychological benefits

During skin-to-skin contact, oxytocin, also called the happiness hormone or the love hormone, is activated. It has a recognized anti-stress virtue. As a result, this skin to skin promotes the bond of mother-child, relaxation, well-being, self-confidence. It also promotes the internal security of the infant.

Is skin to skin at birth important?

When baby is born, his temperature drops. Contact with his mother allows him to bring her back to the same degree as that of the maternal body. The heart to heart acts on its respiratory and cardiac rhythm: the newborn settles on that of its mother. And this harmonization of rhythms, its smell, its warmth, all that reassures and relaxes him. And us with! 

Position: how to do the first skin to skin with baby?

Le premier skin to skin also accompanies breastfeeding: barely born, placed on our belly, baby finds his own way to go up to find the breast, and that promotes the onset of lactation. It is quite normal, as a new mother, to have some difficulties in bonding with her baby if necessary. The fact that oxytocin is triggered via skin to skin will gradually help forge this link.

And if we have not been able to practice it from birth, until what age is it useful?

Even if you haven’t done it, for example because of an emergency cesarean, it’s possible at any time, at your own pace. And if we feel awkward, we go there in small steps: even if our baby is a few days old, skin to skin will create the link and all the benefits of this contact will catch up! So we can do it a few days or a few months, it’s never too late.

Is skin to skin necessarily naked?

The bare skin contact is stronger, but the important thing is that mom and baby are well positioned. The child placed on his mother’s chest, his head on the heart side and within reach of kisses. We can use a special skin-to-skin band that envelops both of us and avoids the feeling of cold due to nudity. And during the day, when we want to go about our business, carrying baby in a sling continues to offer us a privileged contact.

Sleeping close to our skin: when to do skin to skin with baby?

Before or after the feed, and why not during the bath, in the water. It’s all about feeling comfortable. We ensure start skin-to-skin when baby is awake (even if he falls asleep afterwards). You can of course stay skin to skin like this throughout your sleep cycle. But if it is difficult for us to be installed for a long time like this, we stop before! We can do it only 20 minutes for example.

Baby’s age: skin-to-skin is essential for a premature infant

We know its benefit with the kangaroo method, practiced for nearly 50 years. In fact, in Colombia in 1978, for lack of an incubator, we tried the experience of carrying a premature baby like kangaroos, skin to skin 22 h / 24 h. In view of the benefit, the experience is repeated! The idea and the method spread to neonatal services around the world.

With the new discoveries on the importance of touch, it has been realized that the premature baby benefits from the release of oxytocin to continue cell growth and regeneration necessary for the development of its not yet mature organs.

The testimony of twins born prematurely: “Skin to skin saved my twin sister”

“My twin sister and I were born 16 years ago, 9 weeks early. My sister’s heart was not fully formed, she could not breathe on her own. My parents were in despair, the doctors didn’t know what to do, she was wasting away.

After a few days, when all hope seemed lost, a nursery nurse had the idea to put my sister next to me in the incubator. I was told that I had held her and touched her. From then on, she regained her strength, ”explains Lilly. “Without this skin-to-skin contact with my sister, I will not be there  », Concludes Madelaine.

Lilly and Madelaine, are 16 today and live in Hamburg.

What the expert says about this testimony

“The energy of love between them, the brushing of the skins against each other, the contact that is established, allows the miracle to occur. Human contact is a strength and a primary need for each and every one of us. It is an essential element of the human being’s journey towards well-being and a great source of happiness for all of us. Young and old! “

Can the dad also practice skin-to-skin?

A father of course has the same oxytocin as us! With pregnancy and breastfeeding, our rate increases and is higher than his, but with touch, the dad also releases oxytocin. It promotes his bond of attachment, the baby discovers his father, His smell.

In most cases in France, the mother still starts the first skin to skin for the mother-child bond and breastfeeding, and the dad practices it in a second time.

Skin to skin also has an effect on skin health

The studies carried out on contact and the skin by the Beiersdorf laboratories, owners in particular of the Nivea and Eucerin brands, have shown theimportance of oxytocin in skin health. In the early 2010s, it was discovered that our skin cells had functional receptors for oxytocin, this little protein called the “happiness hormone” or “love hormone”, because its level in the blood increases when you hug someone you love.

Rebound: end of 2020, new studies confirm the effects of oxytocin on the surface of the skin, but also… inside its cells! It is able to make sensitive skin less reactive to stress and inflammation. A discovery that could certainly influence how to prevent and treat a variety of skin problems in the future.