How Skin-to-Skin Contact Benefits Baby—and Parents, too

What is Kangaroo Care?

Skin-to-skin contact has been dubbed kangaroo care because it mimics a kangaroo mother carrying her offspring (or joey) in her pouch. Of course, humans don’t have pouches, but placing your undressed baby on your bare chest, and then covering them with a blanket or your robe, helps to mimic the feeling of warmth and security.⁶

This trend took hold in the 1970s when researchers noted that preterm babies who enjoyed regular skin-to-skin contact with their mothers thrived. Since then, it’s been recommended not only for preemies, but also for full-term babies. The health benefits are many, and they don’t just extend to babies. Research shows that mothers and fathers reap emotional and physical bonuses, too.⁷

3 Ways Kangaroo Care Benefits Parents

Helps foster a bond with your baby: Ever experienced that feeling of deep love when your baby is snug against your chest? There’s a hormonal reason for that. Skin-to-skin contact causes a surge in oxytocin, a hormone that leads to feelings of love. It’s not just for mothers; fathers can hold baby against their bare chest and reap the same reward.⁸ Research indicates that this oxytocin increase can be measured within three days of birth.⁹

Helps with breastfeeding: A study in the journal Neonatology showed that moms who engaged in skin-to-skin contact were more successful in breastfeeding. In fact, 90 percent of them continued breastfeeding exclusively for at least six weeks.¹⁰

Helps decrease new-parent anxiety: Whether you’ve just experienced a complicated, stressful birth, or you’re feeling anxious about caring for your newborn, kangaroo-care may help. One study has shown that skin-to-skin contact reduced maternal stress for new mothers in the NICU.¹¹

Ways Kangaroo Care Benefits Baby

May reduce stress: Skin-to-skin contact lowers cortisol levels in babies, also known as the stress hormone.¹²

Encourages better sleep: Preterm babies who had skin-to-skin contact slept better than babies who didn’t, according to a study published in Pediatrics.¹³

You can start kangaroo care right after delivery, by having baby placed on your bare chest, and continue it when you're at home together for as long as you’re both enjoying it. Both parents can trade off having skin-to-skin time with baby at home.