Why Skin-to-Skin Contact Is One of the Most Powerful Gifts You Can Give Your Twins

Double the Cuddles, Double the Benefits

By Dr. Carolyn Lister, Chair of the International Council of Multiple Birth Organisations (ICOMBO). ICOMBO is a voluntary organisation that champions the rights of multiples. Passionate about ensuring the unique needs of multiple and their families are understood and met. Visit icombo.org to learn more about their Declaration of Rights and global advocacy work.

Website: www.icombo.org

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Email: chair@icombo.org

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Every year on 15 May, families and healthcare professionals around the world celebrate International Kangaroo Care Day, recognizing the life-changing benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact (SSC), also known as Kangaroo Care or Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC).

This year, ICOMBO proudly contributed to the development of a new international position paper titled “Equal Access to Skin-to-Skin Contact for Multiple Births.” The paper reinforces an important message:

Every baby deserves the opportunity to experience skin-to-skin care, including every baby in a multiple birth.

For parents of twins, triplets, and higher-order multiples, this is an important step toward ensuring equal care and support from the very beginning of life.

What Is Skin-to-Skin Contact?

Skin-to-Skin Contact involves placing your baby, wearing only a nappy (and often a hat), upright against the bare chest of a parent or caregiver.

Although SSC is recommended for all newborns, it is particularly valuable for premature infants, who account for a significant proportion of multiple births.

Even babies requiring medical care in a neonatal unit can often benefit from skin-to-skin contact once medically stable.

Research consistently shows that even relatively short periods of SSC can positively influence a baby’s health, development, and emotional well-being.

Every Twin Deserves the Same Opportunity

Historically, parents of multiples have sometimes faced barriers to providing skin-to-skin care, often due to staffing limitations, equipment, or hospital routines.

The new international position statement makes it clear:

Being a twin, or part of a multiple birth, should never limit a baby’s access to skin-to-skin care.

Developed collaboratively by parent organizations and neonatal healthcare experts, the guidance aligns with recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI), the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health (ESCNH), the NIDCAP Federation International, and ICOMBO.

The goal is simple: ensure every newborn receives equitable, safe, and family-centered care.

Key Messages Every Parent of Multiples Should Know

The position paper highlights several important principles:

• Multiples deserve the same access to Skin-to-Skin Contact as singleton babies.
• Each baby should be supported individually according to their medical needs.
• Whenever possible, twins may also enjoy skin-to-skin care together.
• Parents are essential members of the neonatal care team.
• Hospitals should provide trained staff, appropriate facilities, and family-centered environments to make SSC accessible for every multiple birth.

Why Skin-to-Skin Matters So Much

The benefits of Kangaroo Care extend far beyond cuddles.

Benefits for Your Babies

Supports vital signs

Skin-to-skin contact helps stabilize body temperature, heart rate, breathing, and oxygen levels naturally.

Reduces pain and stress

Research shows that SSC can lessen pain during routine medical procedures, such as heel-prick blood tests.

Encourages healthy weight gain

Close contact stimulates digestion, improves feeding behaviors, and promotes healthy growth, especially important for premature twins.

Boosts immunity

Exposure to a parent’s healthy skin bacteria helps protect newborns against infection while strengthening their developing immune systems.

Strengthens bonding

Hearing a parent’s heartbeat, voice, and breathing creates familiarity, comfort, and emotional security from the earliest days.

Improves sleep

Many babies experience longer, calmer sleep periods and reduced stress when held skin-to-skin.

The Benefits for Parents Are Just as Powerful

Skin-to-skin care doesn’t only support babies—it supports parents, too.

Parents often report:

• Increased confidence in caring for their babies
• Stronger emotional bonding
• Reduced stress and anxiety
• Improved relaxation and well-being
• Enhanced breast milk production through hormonal stimulation
• Greater involvement for both mothers and fathers

For families with twins, these quiet moments of connection can be especially meaningful during what is often an overwhelming start to parenthood.

Three Ways to Practice Skin-to-Skin with Twins

Every family’s situation is unique, and there is no single “right” way to practice Kangaroo Care.

1. One at a Time

Each parent, or one caregiver at a time, holds one baby individually, allowing both twins to receive dedicated skin-to-skin sessions throughout the day.

2. Sequential Care

Hold one twin first, then the other, ensuring both babies benefit from regular contact.

3. Together

When medically appropriate and with professional guidance, both twins can be held together on one caregiver’s chest, creating a beautiful opportunity for closeness between babies and parent.

Your neonatal team can help determine which approach is safest and most appropriate for your family.

Creating the Perfect Kangaroo Care Environment

During Skin-to-Skin Contact:

• Babies should wear only a nappy (and hat if needed).
• Parents should wear a loose-fitting, front-opening shirt.
• Baby’s head should rest above the caregiver’s heart.
• A blanket or wrap can help keep everyone warm and secure.

Many hospitals also provide specially designed wraps, binders, reclining chairs, pillows, and positioning supports to make sessions safer and more comfortable.

Parents of premature multiples may also benefit from assistance with safely transferring babies from incubators or cots into the Kangaroo Care position.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should Skin-to-Skin Contact begin?

Ideally, as soon as possible after birth. If babies require medical stabilization first, SSC should begin as soon as it is safe to do so.

Can I practice Kangaroo Care in the NICU?

Absolutely. In fact, it should be actively encouraged. If it hasn’t been offered, don’t hesitate to ask your healthcare team.

How long should each session last?

There is no strict rule. The longer and more consistently skin-to-skin care is practiced, the greater the potential benefits. Many families continue well beyond the newborn period, although the first month of life is especially valuable.

Is Skin-to-Skin only for mothers?

Not at all.

Fathers, partners, grandparents, and other caregivers can all safely practice Skin-to-Skin Contact.

For parents of twins, involving both parents is especially valuable, allowing each baby to receive comfort, warmth, and bonding time while strengthening the relationship between the whole family.

Every Twin Deserves the Best Start

For families of multiples, the early days can feel overwhelming, particularly if your babies arrive prematurely or require neonatal care.

Skin-to-Skin Contact is one of the simplest yet most powerful ways to support your babies’ physical health, emotional development, and lifelong bond with you.

Every cuddle matters.

Every moment of closeness helps.

And every twin deserves the opportunity to experience the extraordinary benefits of being held close from the very beginning.