healthy kids
care, can produce remarkable benefits. When it is done for 60 to 90 minutes, this skin-to-skin contact initiates a cascade of physiological effects that optimize every organ system in the infant’s body and promote breastfeeding. The mother also receives benefits, such as reduced stress hormone levels and greater amounts of oxytocin, the hormone that plays a vital role in postpartum healing, breastfeeding and pair bonding.
of America published a study examining the long-term effects of kangaroo care. For two decades, researchers followed preterm and full-term babies; some had received kangaroo care (or skin-toskin contact), and others had not. The children were assessed at four months, three years, 12 years and 20 years. The scientists concluded that early experiences of frequent, close physical contact play an important role in a child’s social-emotional development and were predictive of a child’s ability later in life to interact with peers, regulate emotions, manage stress and show empathic understanding. According to the authors, bodily contact may provide a bridge from prenatal life to postnatal social life. Using a method called hyperscanning, with advanced imaging techniques, scientists sought to identify what was being exchanged between mother and child that yielded such dramatic outcomes. They found that the pair’s neural activity coordinated or synchronized with one another, which led to benefits for the child’s nervous system, immune system, body function and behavioral development. This synchrony was also present when the parent and child were near one another, not just when practicing kangaroo care. Certain factors strengthened synchrony, such as physical proximity and affectionate touch, which activate dopamine and other feel-good chemicals in the child’s brain, enhancing cognitive functioning such as social learning and reward processing, vital in preventing major mood disorders and addictions. In effect, kangaroo care (both with or without clothing), carrying an infant in a carrier or sling, frequent or on-demand feedings, sleeping near one another and infant touch or massage promote what has been scientifically termed parentchild interaction synchrony.
Benefits of Close Physical Contact
Emerging Understanding of Carry Care
The Magic of Parent-Child Synchrony HOW SKIN-TO-SKIN CONTACT HELPS DEVELOPMENT
MEOAM Love/KnoWEwell
by Christine Ramos, RN, CLC, CCM, IBCLC (retired)
I
magine being an infant born only moments ago. The onslaught of new sensations must be overwhelming as they suddenly feel the weight of a once-buoyant body. Eyes that saw only muted shades are now confronted by the harshness of bright lights. For nine months, there were no pangs of hunger, but now they will crave nourishment with every fiber. The warmth, comfort and safety of the womb has been replaced with uncertainty, and the child’s cardiovascular, digestive and immune systems must quickly adjust to new demands. The simple act of placing a newborn on mom’s chest, referred to as kangaroo 32
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In 2021, the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
NaturalAwakeningsNewHaven.com
A child’s brain continues to grow after birth, and by age 1, the average baby’s
