Impact of skin-to-skin contact on the autonomic nervous system in the preterm infant and his mother

•Parasympathetic activity could be studied by heart rate variability analysis.•Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) activates maternal and neonatal parasympathetic activity.•Response to SSC differs according to the neonates' parasympathetic basal tone.

Before, during and after mother-newborn skin-to-skin contact (SSC), parasympathetic activity was evaluated by heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. SSC had a favorable impact on maternal and premature infant parasympathetic activities with a more pronounced response for neonates when the basal HRV values were lower, without modifications of EDIN scores, temperatures or oxygen saturation.