The first hour after birth is a critical time for infants and mothers. During this brief but powerful window, a healthy newborn possesses remarkable instinctive abilities that can help initiate breastfeeding and support lifelong health.
A new study by Drs Karin Cadwell, Anna Blair, Scovia Nalugo Mbalinda, and Kajsa Brimdyr, published in Early Human Development (2026), provides compelling evidence that newborns who succeed in crawling behavior during uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact are significantly more likely to breastfeed effectively following birth.
What makes the first hour so critical?
Immediately after birth, healthy newborns are biologically programmed to seek the breast. When placed skin-to-skin on their mother’s chest, babies progress through a series of instinctive behaviors known as The Nine Stages. These stages include the birth cry, relaxation, awakening, activity, crawling, rest, familiarization, self-attachment, and suckling. Research has shown that these behaviors emerge naturally when mother and baby remain together in immediate, continuous, and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact.
The crawling stage occurs when a newborn uses crawling movements to move toward the breast. They are then able to locate the nipple, self-attach, and begin suckling without assistance.
While all nine stages can take up to an hour or longer, they represent one of the earliest demonstrations of infant competence and self-regulation.
What Did the New Study Find?
Cadwell and colleagues examined the relationship between newborn the specific stage of crawling behavior during the first hour after birth and breastfeeding effectiveness postpartum.
Their findings revealed that infants who successfully crawled during skin-to-skin contact were more likely to demonstrate effective breastfeeding after birth compared with infants who did not crawl.
Why Does Crawling Matter?
At first glance, a baby slowly inching across a parent’s chest may seem simple. However, this behavior reflects a sophisticated integration of neurological reflexes, sensory processing, motor development, and feeding readiness.
During the breast crawl, newborns are exposed to multiple sensory cues:
- The familiar scent of amniotic fluid and breast secretions
- The warmth of their mother’s skin
- The sound of their mother’s heartbeat and voice
- Tactile stimulation across the entire front of their body
These sensory experiences help activate innate feeding behaviors and prepare the infant for breastfeeding.
Researchers have suggested that allowing infants to self-attach may promote a deeper neurological learning experience than assisted latching alone. The process may help babies develop effective positioning, oral motor coordination, and feeding behaviors that support breastfeeding beyond the first feed.
The Importance of Uninterrupted Skin-to-Skin Contact
Routine procedures such as weighing, bathing, measurements, or unnecessary handling can interfere with the infant’s progression through the nine instinctive stages.
The World Health Organization recommends immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact after birth and encourages delaying non-urgent procedures until after the first breastfeeding is completed. Evidence shows that babies who experience skin-to-skin contact in the first hour are more likely to breastfeed successfully and exclusively in the weeks and months that follow.
Despite these recommendations, many newborns worldwide are still separated from their mothers shortly after birth, preventing completion of these biologically imperative behaviors. Research has found that fewer than half of newborns globally begin breastfeeding within the first hour of life.
A Shift in How We View Newborns
Perhaps the most profound implication of this research is what it teaches us about newborn capabilities.
For many years, maternity care practices focused primarily on what healthcare providers should do to and for babies. This study reminds us to consider what babies are biologically prepared to do for themselves when given the opportunity.
When healthcare systems protect this critical first hour after birth and allow these behaviors to unfold naturally, babies often show us exactly what they are capable of doing.
Implications for Maternity Care
The findings support several evidence-based maternity care practices:
- Immediate skin-to-skin contact after birth
- Continuous and uninterrupted contact until the first breastfeed
- Delaying routine procedures until after the first feeding
- Avoiding unnecessary assistance with latching unless clinically indicated
- Educating families about normal newborn feeding behaviors
- Supporting Baby-Friendly maternity care practices
By creating an environment that protects normal newborn behaviors, healthcare providers can help increase breastfeeding success and improve maternal-infant outcomes.
The Bottom Line
This new study by Cadwell, Blair, Mbalinda, and Brimdyr adds powerful evidence to what decades of skin-to-skin research have demonstrated: newborns are born ready to breastfeed.
When healthy infants are placed skin-to-skin immediately after birth and allowed to progress to the crawling—they are more likely to breastfeed effectively postpartum.
The message is simple but profound: sometimes the most effective intervention is not doing more, but protecting the time and space for biology to unfold as nature intended.