It has been known that skin-to-skin contact after birth is an important moment for a newborn baby however it was usually thought of as an important moment between the mother and baby. Research in skin-to-skin contact between a newborn child and their parents is evolving, thanks to work being done by Swedish Professor Uwe Ewald.
It has been found that not only does skin-to-skin contact help forge a bond between the parent and the newborn, but it can also help to regulate the baby’s body temperature in a way that an incubator cannot. This can be vitally important for premature babies.
Ewald has said that a premature baby lying on their parent’s chest could prove to be a better regulator for their temperature than an incubator would be and even helps the baby regulate their breathing better as well. This helps to calm the calm the baby, and will even allow them to gain weight faster.
A photo from a Swedish hospital has been shared recently on Facebook and has gone viral showing a father and his older son both doing skin-to-skin contact with their family’s newborn twins on their chests. It is a beautiful photo showing a touching moment of family bonding.
