|
What
feels better than lying skin-to-skin with your
new baby? A recent systematic review of 30
studies involving close to 2000 participants
concluded that skin-to-skin contact in the early
postnatal period has many benefits not even
counting how good it feels. The review found
that such babies experienced more interaction
with their moms, stayed warmer, and cried less.
They were also more likely to be breastfed and
to do so over a longer period of time. Late
preterm babies also had better
cardio-respiratory stability.
The
findings dispute contemporary western practices
of separating moms and babies after the birth,
dressing babies, and placing them in warmers.
Such hospital routines cause significant
disruptions to mother and baby with harmful
effects. But the gentle practice of early
skin-to-skin contact was associated with no
harmful affects at all.
Source: Moore E, Anderson
G, Bergman N. (2007) Early skin-to-skin contact
for mothers and their healthy newborn infants.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev, January 1, 2007;
(3): CD003519.
http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD003519/frame.html |
