Good news! Common sense would tell you that!
"“Kangaroo care,” or skin-to-skin contact, may be neuroprotective and is associated with neonatal development in areas of the brain involved in emotional regulation in preterm infants, according to a new preliminary study from Weill Cornell Medicine, Burke Neurological Institute and Stanford Medicine.
Even short sessions correlated with noticeable effects on brain imaging scans, which is important because more than half of preterm infants have risk for neurodevelopmental impairment. ..."
"Highlights:
• Skin-to-skin care in preterm infants born before 32 weeks was linked to measurable differences in brain development.
• Longer cuddle sessions were associated with signs of brain growth in regions tied to emotional and stress regulation as well as memory.
• Both session length and amount per day mattered, with longer skin-to-skin sessions showing the strongest associations.
• Even after adjusting for medical and social factors—like gestational age, socioeconomic status and the frequency of family visits—brain differences remained.
• Researchers say the findings underscore how nurturing touch during a critical window may influence how a preemie’s brain develops.
..."
From the abstract:
"Background and Objectives
Preterm birth is associated with altered white matter development and long-term neurodevelopmental impairments. Skin-to-skin care has known benefits for physiologic regulation and bonding in preterm infants, but impacts on early brain structure remain unclear. The aim of this study was to describe the association between in-hospital skin-to-skin care and white matter microstructure in very preterm infants, focusing on frontolimbic tracts involved in stress regulation and socioemotional development.
Methods
The design was a single-center retrospective observational analysis of clinical data from the electronic medical records and diffusion MRI scans.
Participants were infants born at <32 weeks gestational age (GA) who received a routine predischarge MRI.
Skin-to-skin care was quantified as duration per instance and daily exposure rate (in minutes) before the MRI was obtained.
Diffusion MRI assessed mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in the cingulum, anterior thalamic radiations (ATRs), and uncinate fasciculus. Hierarchical regression models evaluated associations between skin-to-skin care and white matter metrics, adjusting for GA, medical acuity, postmenstrual age at scan, and MRI coil type.
Results
A total of 88 preterm infants (mean GA 29 weeks; 49% female) were included. Skin-to-skin care duration per instance was positively associated with MD in the cingulum (B = 0.002, 95% CI 0.0004–0.003, ΔR2 = 0.080) and ATRs (B = 0.002, 95% CI 0.0003–0.003, ΔR2 = 0.057).
Skin-to-skin care daily exposure rate was also positively associated with ATR MD (B = 0.038, 95% CI 0.001–0.076, ΔR2 = 0.046). Both skin-to-skin metrics were negatively associated with ATR FA (duration: B = −0.0005, 95% CI −0.001 to −0.0001, ΔR2 = 0.046; rate: B = −0.016, 95% CI −0.028 to −0.004, ΔR2 = 0.075). No significant associations were found for the uncinate fasciculus.
Findings remained significant after adjusting for socioeconomic status and visitation frequency and after excluding infants with white matter injury.
Discussion
Skin-to-skin care was associated with neonatal white matter microstructure in specific frontolimbic tracts. Limitations include the retrospective design and single-center setting. Future studies should consider how early caregiving experiences, such as skin-to-skin care, may influence brain development in preterm infants."
The power of touch: Skin-to-skin contact linked to preemie brain growth (original news release)
Skin-to-Skin Holding in Relation to White Matter Microstructure in Infants Born Preterm (open access)
Figure 2 Associations Between Skin-to-Skin Care Duration and White Matter Microstructure in Preterm Infants
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