A Dad And His Son Go Viral After Being Pictured Giving Skin-To-Skin To Newborn Twins

October 19, 2018

Medical experts are now encouraging skin-to-skin contact between a newborn baby and their parent, not only to facilitate bonding but to also improve the baby's health. But what happens when the mother is not available to do it? Well, for this family, a dad and his son decided to step up.

In a post originally shared on Forældre og Fødsel, a Danish family advocacy group, and later translated to English by the NINO Birth Facebook group, a man and his son could be seen holding newborn twins to their chests to practice the skin-to-skin hold.

The adorable photo soon went viral,and so did the original message sharers were trying to put across. The Danish group wanted to bring awareness to the importance of the 'kangaroo hold' for infants.

It shared a conclusion reached by a Swedish professor, named Uwe Ewald, who found that premature babies who were taken out of the incubator and experienced skin-to-skin contact with their parents instead, were much likely to rally faster. In fact, some preemies who are born as many as three months earlier than their due date are usually placed on the parent's chest instead of incubators.

Ewald observed that, when there was skin-to-skin contact, the parent's chest regulated the child's body temperature better than an incubator could. In addition, that kind of human contact had incredible physical and emotional benefits for the child, including lessening the risk of infections.

The Facebook post, which has already reached more than 20,000 shares, saw people commenting their appreciation for this method of post-birth bonding.

The man and the boy seemed relaxed, and the babies also looked quite calm. We have to agree with the professor. There's something very natural about this method. And, if it helps babies thrive, why would anyone say no it?