All About Skin-to-Skin Contact (Kangaroo Care)

Wondering what skin-to-skin contact is or how it can help your newborn? Whether your baby is full-term or premature, holding them against your bare chest—also called kangaroo care—can offer powerful emotional and physical benefits from the very start.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

• The benefits of skin-to-skin with a newborn, including bonding, better sleep, and boosted immunity

• Why the golden hour after birth is so valuable

• How to do skin-to-skin with a newborn, including safe positions

• How to do skin-to-skin after a C-section and what to expect

• How skin-to-skin and breastfeeding are connected, and if it can help with milk supply.

From the hospital to your home, this evidence-based practice is simple, comforting, and effective. Keep reading to learn when to start, how to make it work for your little one, and how this quiet act of closeness supports your baby’s health and your own confidence as a parent.

What Is Skin-to-Skin Contact (aka Kangaroo Care)?

Skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, means placing your newborn, usually wearing just a diaper and possibly a hat, directly on your bare chest. You’ll cover both of you with a blanket, gown, or soft shirt to help keep your little one warm.

It’s a gentle practice that helps your baby feel safe and supported while adjusting to life outside the womb. During this time, your baby may relax, listen to your heartbeat, look up at you, or move their hands and mouth. It’s a moment of closeness that can support bonding, calm your baby, and ease the transition after birth.

Both parents can engage in skin-to-skin contact with the baby. If you're breastfeeding, your little one might naturally start to root or latch during this contact, especially if they’re hungry.

It’s also okay if the emotional connection doesn’t happen immediately. If you’ve just given birth, your body and mind are recovering, and this quiet time may actually help you feel more centered. And if you’re the other parent, bonding might take a little longer, but skin-to-skin contact can be an essential part of that journey.

When Can You Start Skin-to-Skin Contact?

Whether you’ve given birth vaginally or via cesarean section, you can usually begin skin-to-skin contact immediately or shortly after delivery. This early time together is often referred to as part of kangaroo mother care, a nurturing approach where a baby is held close to the parent’s chest to support bonding and recovery

Depending on your condition and your baby’s medical situation after delivery, you can usually ask to hold your newborn right after birth.

If your baby needs medical support or you're recovering from birth, don’t worry, kangaroo newborn care can still begin as soon as you're both ready. In many cases, your partner or another caregiver can step in to provide skin-to-skin contact during this time.

This early closeness contributes to the kangaroo effect—the physical and emotional benefits that come from holding your baby against your chest. It can help regulate your baby’s temperature, support their breathing, and reduce stress for both of you.

If you're not the birth parent, you can still begin kangaroo care at any time. For example, if your partner is receiving stitches or being monitored after a C-section, holding your newborn against your chest during that time can be a calming and meaningful start to your relationship.

The Golden Hour

Research shows that what happens during the first hour of your baby’s life can deeply influence your bond. This special time is often referred to as “the golden hour,” a skin-to-skin moment when both you and your baby are especially attuned to each other.

That’s why it’s ideal to begin skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible, ideally within this first hour. This early closeness can help calm your baby, regulate their body temperature and breathing, and encourage the first breastfeeding attempt—all part of the benefits of immediate skin-to-skin contact.

Many healthcare providers now recognize the importance of this early time together and may wait to perform exams, weighing, or other procedures until after the golden hour of skin-to-skin contact has passed, so you and your little one can simply be close and connected from the very start.

How to Do Skin-to-Skin Contact?

Your healthcare team will typically help you get started with kangaroo care while you’re still in the hospital. 

Here are some basics on how to do skin-to-skin with a newborn:

What If You Can’t Hold Your Newborn Right After Birth?

Medical professionals understand why skin-to-skin is important after birth, and when both you and your little one are doing well, they’ll often place your baby on your chest as soon as possible.

Even after a cesarean birth, in many cases, you’ll still be able to hold your baby shortly after delivery. It’s a good idea to talk with your healthcare provider ahead of time about how to do skin-to-skin after a c-section and include it in your birth plan if that’s something you’d like.

In case of complications or if your hospital doesn’t allow contact in the operating room, you’ll be able to hold your baby in the recovery room.

While you’re being stitched up after your cesarean section or an episiotomy, your partner can take over and practice skin-to-skin contact.

If there’s a medical emergency with your baby, the medical staff might let you hold their hand or hover your hand over their head so they can sense that you’re there. Then, when they’re ready, you can enjoy lots of skin-to-skin time.

What happens immediately after you give birth cannot always be planned, but if your healthcare team knows your preference for skin-to-skin contact, they’ll try to make it happen as soon as possible.

What Are the Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact for You and Your Baby?

There are many well-documented skin-to-skin benefits, especially for babies born preterm or with low birth weight. This practice—also known as kangaroo care—has been shown to support both short- and long-term health outcomes for newborns.

Moreover, skin-to-skin contact is beneficial for both full-term and premature babies. In fact, the practice was first developed for premature babies, who were shown to thrive when given kangaroo care.

Here are some of the most widely recognized kangaroo care benefits for your baby:

• Helps stabilize heart rate

• Encourages more regular breathing patterns

• Promotes deeper, more restful sleep

• Supports steady growth and weight gain

• Relieves minor pain, such as during a heel prick

• Reduces the risk of hypothermia, infection, and even death (especially in low-resource settings).

One of the more overlooked benefits when done during skin-to-skin contact is that it can help regulate your baby’s body temperature and breathing while promoting calm, restful sleep.

But it’s not only your little one who benefits. Why is skin-to-skin important for you, the parent? This gentle closeness may help:

• Promote bonding. During skin-to-skin contact, both parents release hormones like oxytocin, prolactin, and endorphins. These hormones help you emotionally bond with your baby and spark intense feelings of love and protectiveness. These feel-good hormones, along with a decrease in stress hormones, can also help the family bond.

• Reduces the risk of postpartum depression. There are studies that indicate skin-on-skin contact can help reduce the risk of postpartum depression and help alleviate stress and anxiety.

Should Dads Have Skin-to-Skin Contact With Their Newborns?

Yes, skin-to-skin is beneficial for non-birthing partners, such as dads, too. While kangaroo care for a father may look slightly different from that of the birthing parent, the emotional and physiological impact is still meaningful. Holding your baby against your bare chest helps promote bonding, a sense of protectiveness, and even a surge of feel-good hormones.

The skin-to-skin experience for dads and other non-birthing partners also plays a key role in helping regulate your little one’s temperature, breathing, and heart rate, just as it does when the birthing parent practices it. And while kangaroo care is happening, the birthing parent can take a much-needed rest. 

Later on, both parents can also do skin-to-skin contact while bottle-feeding.

In addition to skin-to-skin contact, there are other good ways for non-birthing parents, like dads, to bond with their babies, such as talking and playing together and interacting during diaper changes.

Does Skin-to-Skin Contact Help With Breastfeeding?

Yes, skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding often go hand in hand. This close contact encourages natural latching and may improve feeding success.

Some of the key kangaroo care breastfeeding benefits include calming your baby, supporting milk let-down, and strengthening your bond.

Wondering, does skin-to-skin help with milk production? It can. This contact helps trigger hormones that support your milk supply.

You can try skin-to-skin by placing your diapered baby on your bare chest in a quiet, relaxed setting.

How Long Should You Continue to Do Skin-to-Skin Contact?

Skin-to-skin contact isn’t just helpful in the first hours after birth, but it can also be beneficial well beyond the newborn stage. If you’re wondering how long to do skin to skin, the simple answer is: as long as it continues to feel good for both you and your baby.

You can continue this close contact for weeks or even months. Many parents find that regular skin-to-skin time helps with bonding, soothing, and even feeding routines throughout the early months.

As your little one grows and becomes more active, you might start to notice signs that they’re ready for a little more independence. If your baby becomes fidgety or starts pulling away, it may be a natural moment to shift to other bonding activities, like cuddling, babywearing, or simply holding hands.

There’s no set rule for when to stop skin-to-skin with your baby. Just follow your baby’s cues and your own comfort—there’s no rush to end something that brings you both peace and connection.

Are There Any Safety Concerns With Skin-to-Skin Contact?

For your baby’s safety, there are some reasons why skin-to-skin contact may need to be delayed in the period after giving birth:

• If there’s a medical concern with your baby after birth, skin-to-skin contact may need to be delayed until your baby is stabilized

• If your baby has a low Apgar score, skin-to-skin contact may need to be delayed until after monitoring

• If medical staff believe your baby has breathing problems, they may need to be checked and monitored before skin-to-skin contact can happen

• If there is a concern that the baby could be dropped because the parents are tired, lightheaded, or ill after the hours spent in labor and childbirth, the medical team may recommend delaying kangaroo care or suggest that a hospital staff member be present during skin-to-skin contact.

Here are some safety measures that you can practice while doing skin-to-skin contact with your baby:

• Ignore your phone so that your focus is solely on your baby 

• If you are feeling sick or have an illness, such as a cold, you should wait to do kangaroo care so you don’t pass anything on to the baby

• Don’t wear perfumes on your skin, as this can irritate your baby’s delicate skin

• Ensure that your skin is free of rashes, skin lesions, and cold sores

• Avoid smoking before and during kangaroo care.

The Bottom Line

Skin-to-skin contact, or kangaroo care, is a simple yet powerful way to bond with your baby. This gentle closeness supports emotional connection while offering physical benefits, like regulating your baby’s heart rate and temperature and helping your body release calming hormones like oxytocin and endorphins.

If you’re planning to breastfeed, this contact may also support early latching and help encourage milk production.

In many cases, you can begin skin-to-skin contact after birth right away, especially during the golden hour, when you and your baby are primed for connection. But if you’ve had a cesarean birth or your baby needs immediate care, this bonding time may be delayed briefly. Even if it doesn’t happen right away, skin-to-skin can still be practiced in the hours, days, or weeks that follow.

No matter where or when it begins, skin-to-skin contact is a meaningful way for both you and your partner to build lasting bonds with your baby.

And while you’re navigating those early days, don’t forget—you can earn Pampers cash through the Pampers Rewards App. It’s a helpful way to get a little extra support along the way.

_{How We Wrote This Article The information in this article is based on the expert advice found in trusted medical and government sources, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. You can find a full list of sources used for this article below. The content on this page should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult medical professionals for full diagnosis and treatment.}