Birth environment: engage all five senses 

Your birth environment can be critical in helping you feel relaxed during labour – particularly in early labour when you may be more aware of your surroundings. As labour progresses and you get into the zone, the importance of what is around you may reduce. 

However, there are significant differences between the places you can give birth, such as home, midwife-led units, labour wards and obstetric units. Plus, research shows that these environments will be experienced differently by different women. For example, some find the clinical setting a comfort and feel safer. For others, it can be overwhelming and alienating, particularly if it is associated with a previously painful or stressful experience.

Design an oxytocin-boosting birth environment

Being in an environment that causes fear, anxiety and stress can impact the release of oxytocin, slowing down labour contractions and possibly leading to obstetric interventions. However, there is growing evidence that the birth environment in all settings can be adapted to help women feel relaxed, calm and safe. Most NHS Trusts have tried to make their obstetric units more user-friendly, with the option to dim lights, move the bed and access birth equipment such as balls, mats and even pools. 

We want to help you create the right birth environment for your individual needs, regardless of where you give birth – so that you feel safe, comfortable and empowered to have a positive birth experience where you feel in control.

With this in mind, we have looked at research into the birth environment and come up with a list of things to ponder when considering what you might like to include in your birth environment.

Depending on where you’ve chosen to give birth, the unit may provide some of the things we discuss, or you may need to provide them yourself. Ask your midwife to clarify what is available in the different units in your local area.  

As well as thinking holistically about your birth environment, our goal is to help you create a flexible ‘birth environment kit’ that you can adapt and use in all birth settings. 

We know how vital oxytocin is for labour. It is released when we feel safe and relaxed, helping our body create powerful contractions or surges as we birth our babies. That’s not the only benefit. Research shows that our perception of pain is higher when we are scared or stressed. Therefore, exploring how to create a secure birth environment in which you feel safe and can relax may act as pain relief! 

Let’s consider the sensory experience of labour and childbirth as all five of our senses can stimulate the release of oxytocin. Using this information, you can prepare a list of what you’d like to have around you when you give birth. 

Sight

Wherever you plan to give birth, we recommend visiting or doing a virtual tour of the different birthing options available in your local area. It can be a helpful exercise even if planning a home birth! Being able to visualise each location will prepare you for any last minute changes to your place of birth; as you will already be familiar with the look and feel of the different settings. 

Birth equipment you may want to use

It’s easy to assume that a bed will be the focal point in any room you plan to give birth in. Yet, this isn’t always the case. In some midwife-led units, there may not be a bed in the room; the team may have replaced it with a birthing couch or other equipment.

But let’s consider the bed for a moment. Whether in a midwife-led or obstetric unit, the bed can be an incredibly flexible tool that your midwife can move around the room. It can be manipulated into different positions and heights to suit your needs and changing birth positions. The bed doesn’t need to be an anchor that hampers active birth. Ask your midwife to show you how to use the bed to your advantage during labour.

Different birthing units will have various equipment available to support active birth positions. For example: 

• Birth pool
• Birth balls
• Floor mats to kneel on
• Bean bags
• Birthing stools
• Support rope

When you arrive in your birthing room, ask the midwife looking after you to show you how to use the equipment effectively. 

If you are planning a home birth, you will need to consider what you will need to hire or buy and how to set it up in your home. Look around your home, evaluate what might be helpful, and try a few upright birth positions to see how they feel.

You can also use a variety of furniture and surfaces to support you, for example, leaning onto the back of a sofa whilst sitting on a birth ball or using the fireplace to support a forward-leaning standing position.

This is a valuable exercise even if you’re planning a hospital birth, as generally (unless recommended otherwise by your doctor or midwife), you’re likely to be at home during the latent phase of labour using your coping strategies and birth positions to manage contractions.

Medical equipment in different settings

Depending on where you are giving birth, there will be a range of medical equipment in the room. Most of it will be on wheels, so your midwife can move it around the room – or only bring it in when needed. It may include: 

• Gas and air tubes and mouthpiece.
• Monitoring equipment, including a CTG. 
• Epidural pumps and drip stands. 
• A resuscitare or newborn station if the baby needs any help after birth.

If you are giving birth at home, your midwives will bring their kit with them, including a canister of Entonox (gas and air), should you wish to use it. It won’t include equipment such as a CTG or epidural pumps, as these are only available in the obstetric unit. 

Consider your lighting options

Lighting is an essential part of creating a positive birth environment. Bright artificial lighting stimulates the neocortex releasing adrenaline and negatively impacting the release of oxytocin. As mentioned, this has been taken into account by many hospital trusts.

There is a range of options in low and high-risk settings that enable you to adjust the lighting in your birth room to suit your needs and create a calm and private space: 

• Main lights have a dimmer switch.
• Mood lighting.
• Moving lights.
• Fairy lights or electric candles.
• Natural light from windows (often glazed if ground floor).

Your midwife will likely dim the lights and suggest lighting options for you. If they don’t, for any reason, your birth partner can take control! Remember, they’re there to help you create the ideal birthing environment – wherever you are. 

If you are planning to give birth at home, think about how you will create the perfect lighting to suit your mood. You may use what you have set up already, or you may like to add something extra, like fairy lights. 

If you are giving birth in the obstetric unit and they don’t have any mood lighting or fairy lights, these are things you can bring in with you. They will need to be battery operated, as you can’t plug anything into the mains! 

Sometimes your maternity team may need to turn the lights up to better support you – for example, in an emergency. At other times they may be able to keep the overhead lights dim but use bright lights to see what they’re doing, as is the case in some operating theatres during a caesarean section. Your birth partner can ask about this during your labour if you both feel it’s helpful.

Create privacy in all settings

Privacy is another integral aspect of your birth environment. Outside of your home, you may wonder how you can maintain privacy. Part of your midwife’s job is to help you do this. But remember, privacy doesn’t mean birthing alone (unless you’ve chosen to do so). It is about feeling safe, protected and not being disturbed unnecessarily; your midwife has several ways to help maintain privacy during labour: 

• Keeping the lights low helps create a calm and private space.
• A privacy screen to shield you from the doorway. 
• A knock and wait before entering policy for themselves and other members of your maternity team (if needed). 
• Be careful not to disturb you unnecessarily, so you can focus on birthing your baby.

It is important to remember that everything that happens during labour, from listening to your baby’s heart rate and taking your temperature to more invasive interventions, requires your consent. It is up to you to make an informed decision on the level of monitoring and interruptions you’re happy to have during labour or not. The B.R.A.I.N. decision-making tool can help with these choices, and you can document them in your birth preferences.

Visual aids for labour and birth

Eye contact is another aspect of your birth environment that you can take to every location – and can be particularly helpful in moments of change. Your birth partner can offer words of encouragement or help you with your breathing techniques or affirmations. By focusing on your birth partner and shutting out the rest of the room, you can create a private world where it’s just the two of you working together to bring your baby into the world.

You may bring visual aids into your chosen birth unit (or set them up at home) to personalise your birth environment. Some people like to bring in photographs of their favourite places, which they use as a focal point or a basis for visualisation techniques they’ve been practising.

Others bring bunting with their favourite affirmations hung around the room, again as a focal point of encouragement during different stages of labour. You may like to bring photos of loved ones, including other children, to encourage and inspire you.

Of course, you don’t have to bring any of these things as your birthing room may have birth art on the walls or pictures of beautiful scenery that you can focus on instead. You can check this out when you do a tour or look at photos of the rooms.

One last thing to mention that is available in every setting is a mirror to see your baby as the head appears. Seeing your baby’s head can be fantastic and give you the strength you need for those final pushes. Knowing how hard you’ve worked and with the finish line in view. Discuss with your birth partner how you both feel about seeing your baby’s head before birth. If you’d like your midwife to facilitate this, add it to your birth preferences.

Smell

You may have noticed your sense of smell change in pregnancy. It usually heightens in your first trimester and then goes back to normal from your second trimester. However, if you experience hypersomnia, your increased sense of smell may not disappear until your baby is born. 

What can you expect to smell?

However strong your sense of smell, it’s worth being aware that birth is not an aroma-free environment! Pregnant women may not be as mindful of the smells of labour and childbirth as their focus is elsewhere. However, birth partners may, and commonly they describe the fragrance as earthy or coppery.  

There may be other scents that vary depending on your chosen place of birth:

• Cleaning products.
• The medicated smell associated with clinical settings.
• Deodorants and perfumes staff or other people you come across are wearing.

Generate your own smellscape

Even if you choose to give birth away from home, you can bring items into the maternity unit that smell like home for comfort, such as your pillow or a blanket. Plus, you can introduce any favourite scents using aromatherapy oils.

Many midwives have the training to use aromatherapy oils to support women during labour – even in the obstetric unit. If this is something you’d like, add it to your birth preferences. They generally can’t use your oils but will have their own. If you plan to use aromatherapy during pregnancy, speak to a specialist who has trained in aromatherapy for pregnancy, as there are some oils you should avoid. 

The role of smell in childbirth

There are also bodily smells that may arise during labour and childbirth, including: 

• Amniotic fluid.
• Musk or sweat.
• Vomit.
• Poo and blood.

None of these odours is anything to worry about; they are a natural part of labour and childbirth. You don’t need to think about masking these smells, as the midwife uses her sense of smell as part of her toolkit to assess and manage your wellbeing effectively. 

Another reason not to try and mask your natural odours is that smell is one of the bonding factors between newborn babies and their parents, tapping into the pleasure and reward centres of each brain. Research also shows that the smell of the pregnant parent can calm distressed babies, which is why hospitals often put an item that smells of the parent in a preterm baby’s cot. 

Odour-based cues can also help your baby discover where its food comes from, and, if left, they may crawl up to the breast themselves to find their first meal! 

Sound

Birth is not a quiet experience. Being in a busy birth unit can mean that you may hear other women giving birth, the sound of medical equipment in use or bells going off. These noises can be distracting for some women, so it is worth thinking about the tools you can use to blur background noise and help create a calm and private environment. 

Sound as a coping strategy

Music is a brilliant tool for this. Research shows that music can help decrease feelings of anxiety and pain in women during labour and childbirth by distracting us from negative stimuli.

As with all coping strategies, it’s crucial to listen regularly in the run-up to your due date. During your pregnancy, listen to music that makes you feel happy and relaxed – or happy and active. You’re likely to need different types of music for different stages of labour! And remember, it can be a fluid set of playlists. If a song starts to annoy you, remove it. If you discover a new band you love, add more tunes.  

Find out what equipment is available to play your music in your chosen birth unit. Usually, there will be a Bluetooth speaker, but you can always take your own to be safe. Did you know you can play your music in theatre when having a caesarean – even if it’s unplanned? What tune would you choose in this situation? 

Breathwork is another coping strategy essential for labour that you can use anywhere and introduces sound into the room. You may focus on your breath as a grounding technique that helps you concentrate or listen to your birth partner as they help bring you back to calm and thoughtful breathwork as you give birth.

You may rely on other sounds during labour, including positive affirmations, meditation or hypnobirthing scripts you’ve listened to regularly throughout your pregnancy. You may have pre-recorded them or asked your birth partner to read them on the day. 

Voices have their part to play

Voices are an essential part of the soundscape during childbirth. To gain consent for all aspects of your care, your midwife will need to ask questions or speak to you. If you have more complex medical needs, other health professionals may also need to talk to you about your care during labour.

You can ask health professionals to limit the amount they speak with you during childbirth. If you’re an introvert and too much chatter is likely to sap your energy levels, you may find this helpful to add to your birth preferences!

Wherever possible, try to design your coping strategies with communication in mind, as it can be a beneficial tool, too, for example, when your birth partner and midwife give words of encouragement and praise!

You may add words you don’t want to hear during labour to your birth preferences—for example, women who hypnobirth often use words like surges, instead of contractions, and sensation, instead of pain.

Thinking more widely, you may have already found a lot of the language used to describe aspects of the maternity services unhelpful and want to avoid hearing them during labour. For example, ‘failure’ crops up more than we like in terms like ‘failed induction’ or ‘failure to progress’. Many women find this language, understandably, disheartening. 

Some women find humour an essential coping strategy for labour and want a laughter-filled room. One of my favourite birth plans was simply that the couple wanted their son to be born into a room full of laughter and joy! They chose to have a party atmosphere for their family’s big day.

The sounds of birth: what to expect

It’s also important to mention the sounds women make during childbirth. These will vary from person to person, but some similar sounds emerge as women enter the zone. These can include: 

• Moaning or tonal sounds in various lengths and strengths. You may find this helpful as you manage your contractions. 
• Animal-like noises, such as growling, roaring or even mooing.
• Humming or singing this could be linked to your playlist or a favoured affirmation you’re using to focus.
• Grunting, this can be a sign your baby’s arrival is imminent.
• Screaming isn’t as common as films make out, but it can happen. It may indicate you need your birth partner or midwife to help you calm down and refocus on your breathwork. 
• Giving birth is emotional, and there may be a few tears along the way. These could be due to exhaustion, frustration or an overflow of emotions. Your birth partner and midwife are there to comfort and support you throughout your birth experience.

Taste

It’s easy to forget about the sense of taste when preparing for labour, as you are unlikely to want to eat much. It’s not something to worry about as the birth centre, or hospital will provide three meals daily for the woman in labour. However, you will need snacks and drinks to keep your energy levels up! 

What do you want to eat in labour?

In early labour or the latent phase, try to eat little and often. Remember, your uterus is a muscle and it needs fuel (food and water) to function properly. Choose your favourite foods that are packed with slow-release carbs, as you’ll need these for energy in the coming hours and days.

When you’re in established labour, choose a variety of high-energy snacks you love. Some good options include: 

• Fresh fruit, berries and grapes are great to pick at; melon and oranges are hydrating and sweet.
• Dried fruit, nuts and seeds can give you a good boost of energy.
• Energy bars or protein balls.
• Sweets to suck on if you’re using gas and air as your mouth can get dry.

Choose a good lip balm!

Another essential if you’re using gas and air for pain relief is a nourishing lip balm. Choose the one you love the smell and taste of as you’ll be using it a lot! It’s a small luxury to treat yourself to as you pack your labour bag.

Staying hydrated during labour

You will need plenty to drink during labour. Alongside water, you may want other drinks to satisfy your thirst and energy needs. Avoid caffeinated or fizzy drinks during labour as these may make you nauseous.

You may find isotonic drinks useful, as childbirth is hot work, and you lose electrolytes as you sweat. An isotonic drink can help replace these salts and sugars. Try a variety of them during pregnancy to find one (or more) you like the taste of, and pack some in your birth bag. 

Coconut water is another fantastic drink for labour. It does have a lower sodium content than isotonic drinks, so it won’t replace all the salts you lose as you sweat, but used alongside an isotonic, it can be a refreshing, nutrient-rich, and energy-boosting change of flavour! It’s packed with potassium and magnesium, which are great for muscle cramps. 

Invest in a drinks bottle with an in-built straw, as it can be easier to handle during labour. You may also want a cool bag to keep your drinks refreshingly cold. 

Don’t forget your birth partner

Unlike you, your birth partner will not have food provided during labour, and they will need to eat proper meals. Relying on a vending machine may leave your birth partner with little energy, feeling irritable or even faint! Find out what is available in your local birth units, as most cafés and restaurants are not open 24 hours. 

A better idea is for them to pack meals and snacks for a day or two. Find out if there is a fridge for birth partners to store food and a microwave to reheat meals. Or if they can order food from a local delivery service. 

Top tip! 

Midwives often don’t find the time for a lunch break on a busy shift, so packing an extra treat or two to offer them may be well received! 

Touch

Touch is a critical sense to engage positively with during labour. There are several easy ways to use it – wherever you give birth! 

Loving touch in labour

Firstly, loving touch from your birth partner, whether holding hands, cuddling you or stroking your arm, back or leg. Your birth partner’s touch can help you relax and feel less tense, releasing oxytocin. Often someone placing their hands on our shoulders allows us to realise how much tension we are holding there – this can be a valuable way for your birth partner to help you during labour as tension saps vital energy.

Massage for pain relief

Your birth partner can also use massage techniques to support you during labour. Practising these techniques regularly throughout pregnancy can positively impact your mental and physical health and lower your baby’s cortisol levels. One study found that women whose birth partners massaged their back and legs for 15 minutes each hour of labour reported significantly less pain and less need for analgesia. On average, their labours were three hours shorter too. 

You can use massage in all birth settings, even if you’re planning a caesarean section. In this situation, your partner could offer a hand or head massage. The key is to start practising a couple of times a week during pregnancy to get the full benefits! 

Medical support and interventions

The other element of touch you will need to consider in your birth environment is that of your midwife or doctor, with your consent. Contact may include interventions such as:

Monitoring you or your baby

• Giving pain relief such as an epidural via injection
• The use of medical equipment, such as forceps, to help birth your baby. 

It may not be limited to interventions. Midwives are often trained in massage techniques and can help you and your birth partner with this, should you wish. They can also offer physical support during labour, such as helping you move into a different birth position or holding your hand through a contraction. They may also help you in and out of the birth pool if you use one. 

Water as pain relief for labour

The birth pool is an excellent tool for labouring women. The water offers many benefits, including: 

• Lower likelihood of artificial oxytocin use 
• The feeling of weightlessness helps you conserve energy and move freely into different birth positions.
• Less painful, women are less likely to ask for an epidural. 
• A shorter first stage of labour (approximately 30 minutes).
• Increased sense of privacy.

If you don’t have a birth pool available during labour, ask your midwife how best to use the bath or shower. 

As well as those already mentioned for labour, research going on to give birth in water may have additional benefits: 

• Higher rate of vaginal birth
• Less use of episiotomy
• Lower rate of 3rd or 4th-degree tears
• Higher rate of intact perineum
• More satisfying birth experience
• Possibly less likely to experience postpartum haemorrhage.

Labour is hot work

Giving birth is hot work, and maternity units are often on the warm side! Consider what you can take with you to help you cool down. For example, a handheld fan, water spray or flannel? These can all positively introduce the sense of touch wherever you give birth!

Your baby

It’s not often mentioned but is such an important fact to know. During labour, you should still be able to feel your baby’s movements. These remain an essential sign of your baby’s health and wellbeing to the moment they’re born. 

The power of skin-to-skin contact

Let’s finish with the birth of your baby (congratulations!) Not only is this a momentous and exciting occasion, but it offers you the opportunity to try out one of the best free parenting tools you have: Skin-to-skin contact. It is standard practice to place your baby skin-to-skin with you immediately after birth in every setting – as long as they do not need immediate medical care. 

Skin-to-skin contact offers loads of benefits to parents and baby:

• Temperature regulation. Integral straight after birth when babies are at risk of hypothermia.
• Babies feel less stressed with lower cortisol levels and cry less.
• Their breathing and heart rate are more stable
• Digest their food better.
• Friendly bacteria are picked up from parents’ chests, improving their immune system.
• Bonding and attachment for both parents and baby.
• Stimulates the release of hormones that support breastfeeding, including oxytocin.

In the early months, skin-to-skin contact is a great tool to calm your baby or promote bonding. Strip them down to their nappy and pop them inside your top for a cuddle; it will benefit you both!

Summary

I hope this article has given you lots to consider as you prepare for your birth environment, wherever you labour, and your baby arrives! My key takeaway for you is to create a mobile birth environment – think about what you can take to every birth setting and how you may need to adapt your original preferences. Communicate your intentions with your maternity team via your birth preferences document. They will do all they can to assist you.

Content Disclaimer

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article are not intended to amount to advice, and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article. New Life Classes disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.

References

Adams R, White B, Beckett C. The effects of massage therapy on pain management in the acute care setting. Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2010 Mar 17;3(1):4-11. PMID: 21589696; PMCID: PMC3091428. 

Alehagen S, Wijma B, Lundberg U, Wijma K. Fear, pain and stress hormones during childbirth. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2005 Sep;26(3):153-65. doi: 10.1080/01443610400023072. PMID: 16295513.

Berg M, Goldkuhl L, Nilsson C, Wijk H, Gyllensten H, Lindahl G, Uvnäs Moberg K, Begley C. Room4Birth – the effect of an adaptable birthing room on labour and birth outcomes for nulliparous women at term with spontaneous labour start: study protocol for a randomised controlled superiority trial in Sweden. Trials. 2019 Nov 19;20(1):629. doi: 10.1186/s13063-019-3765-x. PMID: 31744523; PMCID: PMC6862754. 

Cluett ER, Burns E, Cuthbert A. Immersion in water during labour and birth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018, Issue 5. Art. No.: CD000111. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000111.pub4. Accessed 18 July 2022.

Field T. Pregnancy and labor massage. Expert Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Mar;5(2):177-181. doi: 10.1586/eog.10.12. PMID: 20479957; PMCID: PMC2870995. 

Lawrence A, Lewis L, Hofmeyr GJ, Styles C. Maternal positions and mobility during first stage labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Aug 20;(8):CD003934. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003934.pub3. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(10):CD003934. PMID: 23959763.

Lawrence A, Lewis L, Hofmeyr GJ, Styles C. Maternal positions and mobility during first stage labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Oct 9;(10):CD003934. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003934.pub4. PMID: 24105444.

Lin HH, Chang YC, Chou HH, Chang CP, Huang MY, Liu SJ, Tsai CH, Lei WT, Yeh TL. Effect of music interventions on anxiety during labor: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. PeerJ. 2019 May 15;7:e6945. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6945. PMID: 31143552; PMCID: PMC6525590.

Kalman DS, Feldman S, Krieger DR, Bloomer RJ. Comparison of coconut water and a carbohydrate-electrolyte sport drink on measures of hydration and physical performance in exercise-trained men. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Jan 18;9(1):1. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-9-1. PMID: 22257640; PMCID: PMC3293068. 

Lin CJ, Chang YC, Chang YH, Hsiao YH, Lin HH, Liu SJ, Chao CA, Wang H, Yeh TL. Music Interventions for Anxiety in Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. J Clin Med. 2019 Nov 6;8(11):1884. doi: 10.3390/jcm8111884. PMID: 31698704; PMCID: PMC6912569.

Lothian JA. Do not disturb: The importance of privacy in labour. J Perinat Educ. 2004 Summer; 13(3):4-6. doi:10.1624/105812404X1707 PMCID: PMC159201. 

Moore ER, Bergman N, Anderson GC, Medley N. Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Nov 25;11(11):CD003519. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003519.pub4. PMID: 27885658; PMCID: PMC6464366. 

M. Newburn & D Singh, NCT, Creating a better birth environment. Women’s views about the design and facilities in maternity units: a national survey. 

NICE clinical guideline [CG190] Intrapartum care for healthy women and babies. Published: 3 December 2014. Last updated: 21 February 2017. 

NICE guideline [NG194] Postnatal care. Published: 20 April 2021. 

Nielsen, J.H., Overgaard, C. Healing architecture and Snoezelen in delivery room design: a qualitative study of women’s birth experiences and patient-centeredness of care. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 20, 283 (2020). doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-02983-z

Nutter, E., Meyer, S., Shaw-Battista, J., et al. (2014a). “Waterbirth: an integrative analysis of peer-reviewed literature.” J Midwifery Womens Health59(3): 286-319.

Nutter, E., Shaw-Battista, J., Marowitz, A. (2014b). “Waterbirth fundamentals for clinicians.” J Midwifery Womens Health 59(3): 350-354.

Peart DJ, Hensby A, Shaw MP. Coconut Water Does Not Improve Markers of Hydration During Sub-maximal Exercise and Performance in a Subsequent Time Trial Compared with Water Alone. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2017 Jun;27(3):279-284. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2016-0121. Epub 2016 Oct 21. PMID: 27768399. 

Shaw-Battista J. Systematic Review of Hydrotherapy Research: Does a Warm Bath in Labor Promote Normal Physiologic Childbirth? J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2017 Oct/Dec;31(4):303-316. doi: 10.1097/JPN.0000000000000260. PMID: 28520654. 

Unicef: The baby friendly initiative. Skin-to-skin contact. 

Vaglio S. Chemical communication and mother-infant recognition. Commun Integr Biol. 2009 May;2(3):279-81. doi: 10.4161/cib.2.3.8227. PMID: 19641751; PMCID: PMC2717541.

Varendi H, Porter RH. Breast odour as the only maternal stimulus elicits crawling towards the odour source. Acta Paediatr. 2001 Apr;90(4):372-5. PMID: 11332925.