Skin-to-skin contact is one of the first most intimate moments shared between mother and the neonate. Directly after birth, the bare infant's belly is placed directly against the mother's chest in a prone position, a …show more content…
"A meta-analysis of 988 infants enrolled in 3 randomized controlled trials of continuous KMC begun in the first postnatal week in low- or middle-income countries found a 51% reduction in mortality among infants with a birth weight <2000 g (relative risk: 0.49 [95% confidence interval: 0.29–0.82])," explained Baley. (Baley, 2015)
Immediate skin-to-skin contact was also found to alleviate stress in the newborn. The stress in the newborn could be due to the actual stress of being born. This stress may be reduced through the mother's touch, body odor, and warmth of the mother's body by decreasing the neonate's sympathetic tone. The infant is said to be led to the mother's nipples by the odor of the mother's breasts. (Bramson & Melcher, 2012)
In conclusion, the first hours of an infant's life are the most critical hours and can determine the bond between mother and baby in addition to possible health issues. Compared with drying and wrapping an infant, direct skin-to-skin contact is shown to aid the neonate in the relief of stress from the birthing process, decrease low birth weight by assisting the infant to be guided to the mother's nipple once placed vertically in between the mother's bare chest, and