If skin to skin contact with your newborn was a drug...

by Nicole & Bethany

10/10/2023

 had this tucked in a caption earlier this week but realized I wanted it front and bold and center. 😅
John Kennell famously said that if doulas were drugs, it would be unethical to not use us (he wasn’t wrong, either), but skin to skin contact (also known as #kangaroocare ) is a physiological need babies have & I so often see it set aside for hospital protocols or cultural pressures.
Skin to skin:
❤️helps stabilize baby’s heart rate

🤱🏽is a predictor for breastfeeding success

⚖️helps baby with weight gain

💕promotes better bonding

🌡️helps regulate baby’s temperature

🩸helps control baby’s glucose levels

It should be a top priority to keep babies on their mother’s chests *without interruption* for at least an hour post birth, not a privilege only begrudgingly bestowed sometimes. Weight and length checks can wait. Those cute little footprint stamps can wait. As many assessments as possible should be done with baby in arms & the whole mindset should be that depriving a baby of this time is harmful, not neutral. And, yes, we feel pretty strongly about this and, no, we don’t apologize for it. 😅