Why is skin to skin contact so important?   Let me tell you the ways!  First, let me tell you how it's done!   It's also called kangaroo care. Even though it requires actual skin exposure, it can be done very modestly and discreetly.  Mom needs to remove all clothing from the waist up (this means the bra, too).  Baby needs only diaper and cap (yes, remove those mitts! - don't you use your hands when you eat?).  Place baby tummy to tummy with mommy (daddy can do this too, he just won't make milk!). Just place the baby right between your breasts, be patient and wait for the magic to begin.  (Mom and baby can be covered with a light blanket for modesty.) I liken it to sitting in the kitchen while a wonderful, savory meal is being cooked.  The baby "smells" the breasts making milk! She will use her hands and head and move towards one breast or the other.  If  you are very patient, she will place herself on the breast and begin nursing without much assistance from you, all you need to do is support her head and neck on the way.  Studies have shown that skin to skin care enhances neurological development (this would be dad's contribution, if he wants to participate!)  We recommend skin to skin time at least every two hours for the first day or so to help with establishing breastfeeding.  More magic about skin to skin?  Mom's body temperature will adjust to keep baby warm or cool baby down!
Dr. Nils Bergman pioneered this method initially to help preemies survive.  He has since and continues to promote skin to skin care for ALL babies.
Follow Dr. Bergman's work at his website:

Everybody loves a newborn! So many people show up to your hospital room to welcome the little one!  Guess what? You both are exhausted from the birthing process, AND you are just meeting! How many of you had your entire family and neighborhood along on your first date?  If you did, how well did it go?  If not, imagine how that would have felt to someone you really cared about and really wanted to get to know?  The same is true with meeting your baby!  Those first 24 hours are critical, and most important for getting acquainted with each other and establishing breastfeeding.

They are most alert in that first four hours, given no medical problems or excessive interventions during birth (subject of another blog to come!)

Your baby's most active sense is the sense of smell.  Have  you ever been in a perfume store to sample fragrances?  Usually three is about all you can handle before you have problems distinguishing one from the other.  Coffee beans are available to "cleanse" your sniffer between whiffs.  Newborns don't have that advantage.  When all the aunts, cousins, neighbors, sorority sisters, and half the congregation have passed your baby around, held their little hands, then leave - your baby will respond in one of two ways - completely shut down, or become miserably irritable and seemingly inconsolable.  I've had moms tell me "The baby doesn't like me!" after moments like this. Sensory overload AND confusion!  The baby can't smell mom, who he's imprinted on - for all the smells of EVERYONE who's held him.  On top of that, they have essentially erased the vestiges of amniotic fluid on his hands that also helped him find his way back to his first love- mom!

There is so little time to learn everything you need to learn about being a new mom the first 24-48 hours while in the hospital - visitors end up being a priority that can wait!

Unless it's your 98 year-old great grandmother who came a thousand miles to meet the new addition, the only people who need to be there in the hospital to visit are the people who are going to be home with you - daddy, siblings, and maybe the helpful mother or mother-in-love (maybe not the mother-in-law, or either!) Designate someone - dad, best friend- to be the visitor police.  Let the hospital staff do it - but let them know you need their help in this!

Let your friends and family know that you appreciate their support, concern, and eagerness to greet the new family member, but you want the both of you to be rested and ready to visit.  Designate a time and day for short visits in small number - when you can dress her up in the outfit they gave you - because your baby needs skin to skin contact as much as possible in the first few days of life (we'll talk more about that in our next blog!)