title: Starting the process of mother-infant bonding.
abstract: Establishing a bond between a mother and her newborn is essential for the infant to grow and thrive in the mother's care. Hospital staff can promote the creation of this bond by providing continuous support during labor, by placing the newborn skin-to-skin on the mothers chest immediately after delivery until the infant latches on for the first feeding, by encouraging continued breast feeding and by keeping her mother and infant always together in the first hours and days after delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even in case where the mother initially rejects her infant, sensitive medical personnel can provide an environment which allows the bond between mother and infant to begin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. john.kennell@case.edu
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kennell
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McGrath
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D011247:Pregnancy