Your body is absolutely amazing. As often as studies prove this, we discover there are yet more things that make a mother’s body even more wonderful that we thought.
You are your baby’s natural environment. A mother’s body is not only designed to breastfeed her baby, it is also designed to keep her baby well and be baby’s first, gentle introduction to the new world.
Put your baby skin to skin as soon as possible after birth. That means baby should just be in a diaper and cap and you should be bare on top (not even a bra). Put baby’s chest to your chest – “heart to heart” and then put a blanket over both of you. This is called Kangaroo Care.
Besides feeling very good to both mother and baby, Kangaroo Care has some amazing benefits.
Kangaroo Care keeps baby’s temperature just right. A mother’s body is so in tune with her baby that it will become warmer if baby is too cool and it will become cooler if baby is too warm. Your body can do this for twins at the same time, even if one twin is hot and the other one is cold!
Kangaroo Care also makes baby’s blood sugar more stable and can prevent problems with low blood sugar. Kangaroo Care helps stabilize baby’s heart beat if there are problems and does the same thing for baby’s breathing.
Babies who “kangaroo” sleep better. During these times of better sleep, the baby’s brain can grow even more-- leading to more complex neural connections and faster motor development.
Babies in Kangaroo Care receive antibodies from their mothers, improving immunity and reducing the chance of infection. This is in addition to the antibodies baby gets from breastfeeding!
Kangaroo Care supports baby’s natural feeding behaviors: it not only helps increase your milk supply, it makes your milk come in faster after baby is born.
Kangaroo Care may seem like it is only for breastfeeding moms, but anyone can kangaroo! Dad especially will enjoy the special bonding Kangaroo Care gives to parents. Grandma, Grandpa, even older sisters or brothers can hold baby skin to skin.
The best time to start Kangaroo Care is immediately after birth. Hold baby skin to skin as long as possible (even before procedures)—ideally at least an hour. As long as baby is stable there is no harm in waiting to weigh the baby, especially when Kangaroo Care has so many amazing benefits. Kangaroo Care can continue for as often and as long as you’d like after birth—the more, the better!
Just remember—heart to heart is baby’s best start.
Krystal Bowden 2010
