How can skin-to-skin contact impact newborns in the first moments after birth?

Skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, plays a critical role in the immediate postpartum period and has numerous benefits for newborns. When a newborn is placed directly against the mother's skin, it helps to stabilize the baby's body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory patterns. This close contact promotes thermoregulation, which is essential because newborns are at an increased risk of hypothermia due to their limited ability to generate their own body heat. The warmth from the mother's body helps the newborn maintain an optimal temperature, which is vital for their overall health.

Additionally, skin-to-skin contact encourages the transition to extrauterine life by promoting stable vital signs, which is important for reducing the stress that a newborn may experience immediately after birth. This stabilizing effect can also enhance the newborn's ability to initiate breastfeeding more effectively, but the primary reason for the positive impact of skin-to-skin contact at this stage is its role in physiological stabilization.

While skin-to-skin contact can assist with breastfeeding and may have favorable outcomes related to jaundice, its most immediate benefits revolve around the stabilization of body temperature and heart rate in the newborn.