"In newborns with a very low birth weight, continuous skin-to-skin contact immediately after delivery, even before the baby has been stabilized, can lower mortality by 25%. This is according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine that was organized by the WHO on the initiative of researchers at Karolinska Institutet focusing on low- and middle-income nations.
One of the most effective approaches to avoid newborn mortality is to keep the newborn and mother in constant skin-to-skin contact, often known as “kangaroo mother care” (KMC). The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends that skin-to-skin contact begin as soon as a low-weight infant is stable enough, which usually takes several days for babies weighing less than 2 kg at birth. "
I thought this one is super interesting.
Yes, in the UK this is well known, the midwifes will normally emphasise that. Also breastfeeding, co-sleeping, etc, and for healthy mothers/babies, leads to measurably better health.
Even in farm animals, vets insist on the calves spending the first few days with the dames, because it leads to significantly lower mortality.