10/23/2025
The findings reveal clear and measurable benefits for newborns who experience skin-to-skin contact within the first hour of birth. Newborns placed skin-to-skin showed more optimal:
Blood sugar levels
Body temperature regulation
Breathing patterns
Heart rate stability (Moore et al 2025).
These improvements occur because skin-to-skin contact helps babies adapt to life outside the womb naturally, keeping them warm, reducing stress and crying, and supporting essential physiological functions.
One striking finding is that about 75% of babies who received early skin-to-skin contact were exclusively breastfeeding at one month, compared to just 55% of babies who didn’t receive this intervention. This difference extended through the first six months of life, with mothers who had immediate skin-to-skin contact significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed during this critical period (Moore et al 2025).
Immediate skin-to-skin contact between new born babies and their mums brings many health benefits. Dr Sara Wickham explains the evidence.
