Care practice #6: no separation of mother and baby, with unlimited opportunities for breastfeeding

Jeannette Crenshaw

doi:10.1624/105812407X217147

Care practice #6: no separation of mother and baby, with unlimited opportunities for breastfeeding

J Perinat Educ. 2007 Summer;16(3):39-43. doi: 10.1624/105812407X217147.

Author

Jeannette Crenshaw¹

Affiliation

¹ JEANNETTE CRENSHAW is President of Lamaze International (LI). She is LI's representative to the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) and serves on the USBC leadership team. She is a clinical education specialist at Texas Health Resources, The Center for Learning, in Arlington, Texas, and a member of the graduate faculty in the University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing.

Abstract

This updated edition of Care Practice Paper #6 presents the evidence for the benefits of keeping mothers and babies together after birth. The normal physiology of the postpartum and early newborn periods is explained. The author reviews the influence of early and frequent skin-to-skin contact and rooming-in on breastfeeding and early attachment. Women are encouraged to choose a birth setting that does not routinely separate mothers and babies and to plan for early and frequent skin-to-skin contact and rooming-in.