Skin-to-skin contact and its effect on mothers' postpartum psychological distress and their full-term neonate in Egypt.

This article reports on a randomized controlled study conducted at Al-Zahraa University Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, evaluating the effects of skin-to-skin contact (SSC), also known as Kangaroo mother care (KMC), on postpartum psychiatric disorders in mothers and health outcomes in their full-term infants. Four hundred mothers were divided equally into an SSC group, who practiced daily skin-to-skin care for at least one hour over 12 weeks, and a control group receiving usual care. Results showed that infants in the SSC group had significantly greater weight gain, longer sleep duration, and more frequent breastfeeding, while mothers exhibited reduced postpartum depression and anxiety, improved sleep quality, better wound healing, less postoperative pain, and stronger maternal–infant bonding compared to controls. The study suggests that daily SSC may be an effective, low-cost intervention to enhance infant growth and maternal psychological well-being during the postpartum period.