Article: Skin to Skin Contact of a Newborn to his Mother is Essential

A new mom is skin to skin with baby in the labor room.

Photo © iStockPhoto

SSC should be a routine practice in the hospital. As soon as the baby is born, he should be placed on his mothers chest with his bare skin against hers and them being covered together with a blanket to keep them warm.

Studies have show a lot of advantages with this process. To mention some of them are;
1.) cardio-respiratory stability was achieved sooner
2.) mother's maternal attachment to the baby was keener
3.) mothers touched their babies with affection more during  breastfeeding and so breastfeeding outcome was better
4.) more maternal oxytocin were released
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Matthiesen+2001+oxytocin
5.) Babies are kept warmer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12725547

There is something magical that happens that the eyes cannot see when mother and baby is together and not separated at birth. There is no better place where infants belong then in their mothers arms. I say no to unnecessary intervention at birth and to immediate skin to skin bonding of infant's at birth.