Dads’ newborn cuddles count too: study

Compared to clothed hugs, babies benefit from skin-to-skin contact with fathers after caesarean
Reuters Health

Newborns separated from their mothers due to a caesarean delivery fared better when they received skin-to-skin contact with their father versus simply being held by the father while clothed or left alone in a cot, a study finds.

Analysis of data on 95 infants showed those who received skin-to-skin contact from fathers had significantly higher heart rates and wakefulness than babies without this contact, according to the report in Acta Paediatrica.