A woman goes into labor, gives birth, and the newborn is swaddled and placed to sleep in a nearby bassinet, or taken to the hospital nursery so that the mother can rest.
Despite this common practice, new research published in Biological Psychiatry provides new evidence that separating infants from their mothers is stressful to the baby.
Humans are the only mammals who practice such separation, but its physiological impact on the baby has been unknown until now.
Researchers measured heart rate variability in 2-day-old sleeping babies for one hour each – during skin-to-skin contact with mother – and alone in a cot next to mother’s bed.
Neonatal autonomic activity was 176 percent higher, and quiet sleep 86 percent lower during maternal separation as compared to skin-to-skin contact.
Dr. John Krystal, editor of Biological Psychiatry, commented: "This paper highlights the profound impact of maternal separation on the infant. We knew that this was stressful, but the current study suggests that this is major physiologic stressor for the infant."
More research is necessary, and the challenge to doctors will be to incorporate skin-to-skin contact into routine treatment while providing the other elements of newborn medical care.
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