Skin-to skin contact with fathers may help newborns after caesarean delivery

Separating infants and their mothers after a Caesarean section delivery is common. A new study published in Acta Paediatrica has found that providing skin-to-skin contact with the father may provide benefits to a newborn.

In the study, 95 newborns were randomized to cot, father's arms, or skin-to-skin contact with the father after Caesarean section delivery. Heart rates were higher and showed more stability over time in the skin-to-skin than cot or fathers' arms groups. Wakefulness was also initially higher in the skin-to-skin group.

"The skin-to-skin group showed some advantages over the cot and fathers' arms groups when it came to establishing stable physiological parameters and wakefulness. This approach should be supported during mother-infant separation," the authors wrote.