Our son´s first hours outside the womb were spent on my chest surrounded by the loving presence of his dad. He was calm, awake, locking eyes with us, which left us in awe. Now, 3 years later, he still thrives on physical closeness, and my motherly instinct is to provide him with that communion. I feel that skin to skin contact forges healthy early development and science validates that this is the case.
In the video below, M.D. and researcher Nils Bergman discusses the effect of skin to skin contact between mothers and babies.