In plain words
Vagal tone describes how active the vagus nerve is at rest. The vagus nerve links the brain to the heart, lungs, and gut. It slows the heart and helps the body settle after stress. In newborns, with a parent has been linked to steadier breathing, a calmer heart rate, and a lower stress hormone level. Researchers describe this as a rise in vagal tone. Vagal tone is a physiology term, not a diagnosis, and it is not something a mother needs to measure. Researchers describe skin-to-skin holding as one setting in which this calm physiology shows up.
The deeper version
Vagal tone is the parasympathetic influence on the heart, indexed clinically by heart rate variability at high frequency. In neonates, skin-to-skin contact increases vagal activity relative to cot care, with lower cortisol and better glucose stability reported in cohort and small trial data. Feldman and colleagues (Biological Psychiatry, 2014) linked early maternal skin-to-skin contact to higher vagal regulation in childhood after preterm birth. The Cochrane review of early skin-to-skin contact (Moore et al., 2016) found improved breastfeeding and temperature in healthy infants, with mixed evidence for vagal outcomes. Measurement is technically variable in newborns, and most studies are small.
Where it comes up
- Skin-to-skin and the golden hourGetting Ready for Birth
- The first 24 hoursBirth and the First Days
- Soothing a newbornBaby Basics
- Crying, colic, and the witching hourBaby Basics
What mothers here say about vagal tone
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Moore ER et al. — Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016
- Feldman R, Rosenthal Z, Eidelman AI — Maternal-preterm skin-to-skin contact enhances child physiologic organization and cognitive control across the first 10 years of life. Biological Psychiatry 2014
- World Health Organization — Kangaroo Mother Care: a practical guide, 2003