03/17/2026
100% agree with this post! Its common practice because the molding of the babies head can look concerning, so let's instead talk about what to expect! The more educated we become on physiological birth, the less we lean on the common labor and birth practices and hospital protocol that can interrupt natural processes with our babies!
Take the hat off.
The first hour after birth isn’t just sentimental.
It’s hormonal. It’s biological, and it’s powerful.
Right after birth a mother’s body is flooded with oxytocin, the hormone that helps:
💎the uterus contract and slow bleeding
💎the placenta separate and be born
💎the mother and baby bond
💎the baby begin breastfeeding
And guess what helps drive that hormonal cascade?
👉🏾Touch. Warmth. Skin-to-skin. And smell.
When a baby is placed directly on their mother’s chest, mothers instinctively touch, kiss, and smell their baby’s head.
That newborn scent isn’t random.
It’s a powerful sensory signal that stimulates oxytocin and activates bonding behaviors in the brain.
Now here’s the part most people don’t question.
The hat that gets immediately placed on the baby’s head interrupting all the signaling.
Hospital hats were originally introduced to prevent babies from losing heat through their heads.
But research on immediate postpartum care shows that skin-to-skin itself regulates a baby’s temperature extremely well.
In fact, a 2023 study found no measurable difference in hypothermia rates between newborns wearing hats and those without hats during the immediate postpartum period.
Because when babies are skin-to-skin, something incredible happens.
The mother’s chest actually adjusts temperature in response to the baby, warming or cooling to keep them stable. Researchers call this thermal synchrony.
So if skin-to-skin already regulates temperature…
Why are we still covering the baby’s head during the most hormonally sensitive hour of life?
Covering the head may reduce the very sensory cues that drive the oxytocin feedback loop:
🔁 smelling the baby
🔁 kissing the baby’s head
🔁 full skin-to-skin sensory contact
In physiologic birth settings, like homebirths and out of hospital birth centers, we often have a different approach:
⭐️ Baby naked on the mother’s chest.
⭐️ No hat during the golden hour.
⭐️ A warm blanket over baby’s back.
⭐️ Everyone stepping back while mother and baby find each other.
Because birth physiology is delicate.
It responds to touch, scent, warmth, and connection.
Sometimes routines become so normal that we stop asking whether they actually help.
And sometimes the most powerful intervention is the simplest one.
Skin-to-skin, access to baby’s head and scent while the mother and baby learning each other.
Hats are interrupting this very important process for healthy term babies.
