Skin-to-skin contact of the newborn and the father is possible

The first hours of life of a newborn baby after delivery are extremely important for the emergence of the mother / father-child bond. They are also crucial to start breastfeeding . These two issues, bonding and breastfeeding , will influence both the baby’s health and its subsequent emotional development.

With the arrival of medicalization of births, they no longer take place in the homes themselves, but babies generally arrive in the world in a hospital. Therefore, births are very different from how they were before. It is clear that the safety and survival of both mothers and babies have improved remarkably. However, this medicalization has also meant that childbirth has become very mechanical, leaving aside maternal and paternal care for the newborn in favor of purely medical care , often with the intention of avoiding nosocomial infections in neonatal units .

CONTACT THE FIRST MINUTES OF LIFE

In recent years, neonatologists are in favor of what they call “family-centered care.” They propose a new approach based on the special care that newborns must receive in neonatal units. The family is recognized as the most important point of reference in these first hours of babies’ lives, even during hospitalization.

One of the most important measures carried out according to this new approach to family-centered care is what is called skin-to-skin contact . It refers to the early contact that the newborn has directly with his mother, just after birth. The baby would be placed lying down directly on the mother’s abdomen and it would be verified how little by little the baby would crawl, until it reached the breast.

Until this new approach began to be applied, the norm in most Spanish hospitals was to separate the child from its mother as soon as it was born. The pertinent evaluations were made, such as the Apgar test, and he was routinely cleaned, dried and dressed. Even then he was being returned to his mother. This process, which came to be considered so natural, was something totally artificial and contrary to what had always been done in most cultures, until the beginning of the 20th century.

Numerous studies that were carried out when the practice of skin-to-skin contact began to be carried out again, demonstrated a whole series of benefits. In the first place, it was observed that there was a greater frequency and duration of breastfeeding, a better bonding process and a decrease in crying time in the child. In addition, glucose levels seem to be better, as well as cardiorespiratory stability . As for the mother, they would suffer less pain from engorgement and less anxiety. On the other hand, no harmful effects of skin-to-skin contact were found if it is done under the supervision of an expert professional.

EXCLUSIVE TO THE MOTHER?

But is skin-to-skin contact something that should only be done between mother and baby?

Of course, it is the most beneficial, by the very nature of the process. The baby can adapt to the new extrauterine environment by maintaining contact with its mother, which would have been its natural ecosystem, so to speak. However, if the mother is not available due to her health condition , skin-to-skin contact can take place between the baby and the father.

This contact between the baby and his father has been shown to be beneficial for both of us . Although, logically, the breastfeeding process does not develop early when the contact is with the father, it has been shown that the baby prepares better for breastfeeding by staying close to the body of its father than by remaining apart. In addition, children also cry less, are calmer, and acquire more organized behavior earlier.

On the part of the parents, their involvement in the birth and with their child in the first hours of life is positive. The link between the two will be established earlier and more intensely . Therefore, although we must prioritize skin-to-skin contact with the mother, the main caregiver in the absence of the mother at this time should be the father, keeping the baby on him with a bare chest, skin to skin.

We should not consider this position as something new or invented today, if not as something natural and the most common thing that had been lost until recently.

Neonatologists now tend to avoid the sometimes aggressive postpartum maneuvers they used to perform on the baby if they are not necessary. We are talking about techniques such as aspiration of oral and pharyngeal secretions, passage of probes to rule out esophageal atresia, anal atresia or gastric lavage. If the newborn baby has a good score on the Apgar test, no type of maneuver would be necessary. It is more advisable that during the first two hours of life the baby is specially monitored by a professional who will determine if these types of tests are strictly necessary.

If not, the baby should remain in skin-to-skin contact with his mother or father for at least 50 minutes, although ideally this time should be extended up to 120 minutes. They will be in charge of accompanying them in these first minutes of life and helping them in the transition to the new environment that surrounds them.