Find out more about why skin to skin contact between you and your baby is the best place for your baby to start life.
Holding your baby against your skin straight after birth will calm your baby, steady their breathing and help keep them warm. This helps your baby feel safe and secure and helps you bond with each other.
Your baby should stay in skin-to-skin (tummy to tummy) contact with you until the first breastfeed, or for at least an hour, to encourage breastfeeding to occur.
Find out more about the importance of skin to skin [1]
This page last reviewed 30 May 2022.
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Links
[1] https://kidshealth.org.nz/importance-skin-skin-contact
[2] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/breastfeeding
[3] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/nutrition-0-12-months
[4] https://kidshealth.org.nz/importance-skin-skin-contact?language=en
[5] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2617?language=en
[6] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2618?language=en
[7] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2619?language=en
[8] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2620?language=en
[9] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2683?language=en
[10] http://file:///C:/Users/KatherineL/OneDrive%20-%20healthAlliance/Documents/01AAA_Website/Nutrition%20and%20obesity/2022/Mama_Aroha-instruction-A5.pdf
[11] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2692?language=en
[12] https://kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fkidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F1251%3Flanguage%3Den