Mother's touch vital for newborn

A mother's constant touch is vital for the well being of a newborn but the practice of separation immediately after birth could be stressful.

The current practice is to separate the newborn and place it in a separate crib so the mother can rest following labour. This practice may stress the baby, says new research.

Separation is also common for babies under medical distress or premature babies, who may be placed in an incubator, reports the journal Biological Psychiatry.

"Our results are a first step towards understanding exactly why babies do better when nursed in skin-to-skin contact with mother, compared to incubator care," study author Barak Morgan, University of Cape Town, explained in a statemen