It is known that breastfeeding is the best way to feed your baby, but for whatever reason you do not plan to breastfeed, that does not mean you have to miss skin-to-skin contact with the newborn.
There are many benefits of this early and intimate contact between the mother and the baby, so it should be a routine practice after birth, regardless of how the baby will be fed. If we want to strengthen the emotional bond from the zero minute, even if the baby takes a bottle, skin-to-skin contact is very beneficial.
And at the moment there is a process of recognition both by the baby and by the mother, who in a quiet environment can observe her baby for the first time. It is a unique moment and that every mother feels intensely.
For the little one, the skin-to-skin contact also helps him to calm the crying after the stressful situation of birth and helps him regulate body temperature, after the abrupt change of passing from the intrauterine environment to the outside.
For all this, UNICEF recommends that Skin-to-skin contact is also carried out in mothers who will feed their baby with artificial milk. He points out that he does not ask himself during the labor of the childbirth about the feeding of the baby, but that the newborn is placed on the mother's breast.
Maybe at that time even the mother changes her mind when she feels so close to the baby, in case she had previously decided to bottle feed. In any case, the medical professional must support the woman in her decision, offering all the information.
Mom can give the bottle skin to skin, feel closer to the baby, offer security, smell, heat ... Remember that during this period a series of chemical and hormonal processes occur that keep the baby in a state of alertness and favor important communication for the development of the mother's emotional bond -son.
