You may have heard the term ‘The Golden Hour’ which describes holding your baby as soon as they are born, skin-to-skin, for an hour or more.

I prefer to instead say ‘The Golden Bubble’ - coined by Dee Bell IBCLC, the Infant Feeding Academy.

Here’s why…

What are the benefits of skin-to-skin following birth?

The effects of a baby being skin-to-skin with their mother, or another primary carer if that is not possible, are incredible. Through their skin being in contact with ours, it initiates a kind of communication, to help your baby and mothers after the birth process.

I highly recommend finding out more, but here is a quick summary of some key benefits:

Calms and soothes
Endorphins and other feel-good hormones are released to help mother and baby fell more relaxed
Bonding and initiation of breastfeeding
Key hormones are stimulated which play a significant role in bonding and also in breastfeeding, such as oxytocin and prolactin
Adjust and recover after birth
Key bodily functions such as temperature, heart rate and breathing are better regulated when in skin-to-skin contact
Builds immunity
Healthy microbes from the mothers body are transferred to the baby, helping build the foundations of baby’s microbiome
Feeding and growing
Energy is conserved and stress hormones such as cortisol are better balanced when skin-to-skin which enables your baby to focus on thriving

So, it is no wonder that holding your baby skin-to-skin straight after birth is recommended!

Where did ‘The Golden Hour’ come from?

Research studies show many health benefits when newborn babies are placed skin-to-skin immediately with their mother, including higher rates of breastfeeding.

Research also shows that when healthy, term newborn babies are undisturbed, they are able to crawl up their mothers body and latch on themselves via an instinctive process which is named the ‘breast crawl’.

This research is represented in the Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative standards - which almost all hospitals have implemented, or are working towards. One of the standards is ‘Support all mothers and babies to initiate a close relationship and feeding soon after birth’ and Unicef BFI assess whether the hospitals are doing this in several ways, including:

“Listening to mothers to find out about their experiences of care, including: … If they were able to hold their baby until after the first feed, for at least one hour or for as long as they wished…”

— — UNICEF UK BABY FRIENDLY INITIATIVE: GUIDE TO THE STANDARDS – THIRD EDITION

And so the term ‘The Golden Hour’ was developed to easily promote this advice. Of course, promoting undisturbed skin-to-skin with our babies is great!

Unfortunately though, where an hour is specified it is often seen as a limit rather than a minimum.

Particularly in our hospitals, where resources are in high demand and there are many procedures for staff to complete, the emphasis of this standard has been the idea of ‘at least one hour’ - rather than ‘until after the first feed’ or ‘as long as they wished’.

The Golden Bubble: Why is this wording important?

The research into skin-to-skin contact and the breast crawl show that some babies achieve their first breastfeed within one hour. But some do not - some babies need a little bit longer. By interrupting skin-to-skin contact and the breast crawl process before their first feed, research shows that exclusive breastfeeding rates decrease.

Your baby might need 65 minutes, 80 minutes, 90 minutes or more - and many factors can influence how long it will take for them to go through the stages of their breast crawl. So, if you would like to breastfeed your baby, instead of having an hour of skin-to-skin in mind…

…aim for uninterrupted skin-to-skin with your baby until after their first feed if you can!

There is also the tendency to see skin-to-skin as a one-time thing - don’t forget that if we look back in history, at more traditional cultures or even today where babies are born at home, they are very likely to spend most of their time skin-to-skin with their mum in the early days.

You can return to being skin-to-skin at any time, and this can be so beneficial and restorative for mums as well as babies.

When immediate, undisturbed skin-to-skin isn’t possible…

There are some situations where immediate, undisturbed skin-to-skin is not possible. If this is what you were hoping for, but it does not happen then you can start skin-to-skin as soon as it is possible. There is no time limit on the benefits, it doesn’t expire, and you can do it as often and for as long as you want to, when you can!

What does this mean for you?

Do you like the idea of ‘The Golden Bubble’?

Time for you and your baby to rest together after labour and birth, to hopefully get your breastfeeding journey off to a good start, both safely cocooned in your birthing partner’s arms!

If you do, you can add this into your birth plan/preferences. For example: ‘Please enable and protect my baby’s opportunity to be skin-to-skin with me straight after they are born and for as long as possible - at least until after their first feed. If this is not possible straight away, please give us this opportunity as soon as is possible. I would like to be skin-to-skin with my baby as often as possible, for as long as possible in the early days.’

For information birth planning, have a look at The Positive Birth Book by Milli Hill and her free tool to create a visual birth plan: The Positive Birth Book – Create your own free visual birth plan

Want to learn more?

Here are some great resources to learn more about the benefits of undisturbed, skin-to-skin with your baby after they are born and their ability to ‘breast crawl’:

References:
Guide to the Baby Friendly Initiative Standards - Baby Friendly Initiative (unicef.org.uk)
Research on skin-to-skin contact - Baby Friendly Initiative (unicef.org.uk)
Mapping, Measuring, and Analyzing the Process of Skin-to-Skin Contact and Early Breastfeeding in the First Hour After Birth | Breastfeeding Medicine (liebertpub.com)