Let’s Talk About Skin-to-Skin
Okay, so let’s start off by talking about what in the world skin-to-skin even is. It’s become a staple in birth plans and preferences the world over. (Y’all know I’m ALL about creating birth preferences, not plans…but I’ll save that for another day). It’s popular and there are some pretty good reasons. Alright, so skin-to-skin is the practice of placing the naked newborn onto the parents’ bare chest following birth. In hospital settings, this is usually done before cutting the cord during a vaginal delivery, but can be done afterwards if baby needs to have some extra help. In birth centers and home births, it’s usually done right after the baby comes into the world. Let’s go over some research.
Studies have indicated that the benefits of early skin-to-skin include:
Increased likelihood of a long-lasting breastfeeding relationship
More effective suckling during the first BF session
Less chest/breast engorgement/pain
Less anxiety three days after birth for parents
Less crying during observation
Heart Rate, Breathing, and Oxygen levels were more stable for baby
Increased blood sugar for baby
Sounds great, right? It really is! The benefits of it are really clear. What’s less clear is when skin-to-skin should happen. There is a misunderstanding that skin-to-skin must be done IMMEDIATELY after birth. When people write up their birth plans, many will cite immediate skin-to-skin--when birth doesn’t go to plan, these parents will often feel as though they cannot give their child these great benefits. THIS ISN’T TRUE. The researchers of these studies did not find any differences when they looked at skin-to-skin done within 10 minutes of birth or after 10 minutes of birth. I repeat: They found NO differences. (side note: The researcher in me needs to point out that all of these studies cited examined skin to skin done within one hour of birth).
Basically, studies have indicated that:
You do not have to have skin-to-skin immediately (within a minute) to see its benefits, but immediate or very early (within the hour) has been studied to show these benefits.
Gentle ceseareans and very early skin-to-skin after ceseareans still gets these amazing benefits (immediate skin-to-skin still needs more research)
Your body is so amazing and provides so much for your baby (this is a no-brainer)
Your partner can do skin-to-skin, especially after a cesarean, and it helps facilitate the development of prefeeding behavior, making them an amazing caregiver during the separation of birthing person and baby (this particular finding is from Erlandsson, Dslina, Fagerberg, and Christensson 2007)
Having those little warm, gooey, baby rolls on top of you does so much more than just make you glow. Talk to your doula about how this could play out in your birth and make sure it’s routine in your practice to do it!
Doula out.
(Research and sources found through evidence based birth and peer reviewed journals.)