Cuddling babies ‘skin to skin’ improves health

La Leche League New Zealand
www.lalecheleague.org.nz

Media Release
27 July 2007

Starts/

Cuddling young babies ‘skin to skin’ improves their health

New born and young babies breathe better, breastfeed better, bond better and have lower levels of stress hormones when they are held naked on their mothers’ bare chests, says La Leche League New Zealand.

Director Barbara Sturmfels says skin-to-skin contact is a valuable technique throughout infancy.

“The great thing is that it can be practiced by dads and grandparents as well as the mother.”

La Leche League is supporting the push by New Zealand maternity facilities to ensure that as many mothers and babies as possible have time together, skin-to-skin, after the baby’s birth.

“Studies have found that during the first hour of life a baby becomes increasingly alert. If the baby is placed skin-to-skin on its mother’s chest it is more likely to latch on, without assistance, to her breast. This takes about an hour, on average. A mother and baby will ideally remain together skin-to-skin for as long as they desire, and definitely until the completion of the first breastfeed. This process supports the baby’s natural, inborn instincts and enhances the baby’s transition into the outside world.”

Barbara Sturmfels says even routine labour or birth interventions can interfere with bonding between a mother and her baby and can interfere with establishing breastfeeding.

“The percentage of intervention-free births is very low at less than 10 percent nationally, so nearly all women have to cope with the effects of interventions when they begin breastfeeding”.

“For example, when women have been given epidural anaesthesia to relieve labour pain, their babies may have difficulty latching on to the breast and suckling effectively. Research shows that it takes several days or weeks for the effects of the medication to wear off, yet these early days are a critical time for the baby who is learning to breastfeed.”

Free breastfeeding information sessions, run by La Leche League Groups, are provided for pregnant as well as for breastfeeding women. At these sessions the women can learn about the effects of various birth interventions and get ideas from other mothers about how to solve resulting breastfeeding challenges, if they arise.

ENDS

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