Skin-to-Skin Time: Why It Matters for Every Parent

What it is

Skin-to-skin (also called kangaroo care) means holding your baby, in just a diaper, upright against your bare chest, with a blanket or your shirt over their back. It is one of the simplest things you can do with a newborn, and any parent can do it.

Why it helps the baby

• Warmth. A parent's chest warms a newborn well, often better than a blanket alone.
• Steadier breathing and heart rate, and more stable blood sugar in the first hours.
• Less crying and calmer sleep. Babies held skin to skin tend to settle faster.
• Feeding. Right after birth it helps babies find the breast and latch, and it supports milk supply in the weeks after.
• Premature and small babies benefit most. Hospitals encourage kangaroo care in the NICU because it helps them grow and go home sooner.

Why it helps the parent

• It releases hormones that lower stress and help you feel close to your baby.
• Parents often say it is when they first feel like the baby's parent.
• For the birthing parent it can help milk come in and ease the early days.

Dads and non-birthing parents too

Skin-to-skin isn't only for the person who gave birth. Babies get the same warmth, calm and steady breathing on a dad's or partner's chest, and studies suggest it helps fathers feel more confident and connected and less stressed. It is especially useful: - after a C-section or a difficult birth, while the birthing parent is being looked after; - when the feeding parent needs rest or a shower; - to settle a fussy baby, since a different smell and voice can be calming; - as your own daily ritual, for example after the evening bath.

How to do it safely

• Be awake and alert. If you feel drowsy, put the baby on their back in their crib or bassinet. Don't do it when you might fall asleep on a sofa or armchair.
• Baby upright on your chest, chest to chest, head turned to one side, with their nose and mouth clear and their face where you can see it.
• Sit reclined or semi-upright, not flat, and keep your phone down so you can watch your baby.
• Not after alcohol, sleep medicine or other drugs that make you sleepy, and not if you smoke right before.
• Cover the baby's back with a blanket or your shirt; the room should feel comfortable to you.

How much and for how long

• Right after birth, about an hour or until the first feed, if you and the baby are both well. Ask your hospital team; most now support it, including in the operating room after a C-section.
• After that, any amount helps. Aim for an hour at a time when you can, since babies take a while to settle and get the most from longer stretches.
• It is most common in the first three months, but there is no age when it stops being good for you both.