Jeanette, I also attended a lecture by a physician who
discussed the "benefits" you mentioned. In fact, she said
that a baby's entire central nervous system is regulated by
skin-to-skin contact at birth. The vagal nerve is stimulated by
the baby's suckling motions at the breast -- this "sets" a
stable  cardiac rhythm. As I understand it, babies who have
skin-to-skin contact at birth, and who nurse during the first
few hours, have systems that are much more "mature" than
infants who don't have this contact. Furthermore, the lecturer
said, when this difference was first studied the researchers
wondered what was "wrong" with the breastfed infants...
(Another example of the "normal" being seen as a "benefit")

I, too, would be interested in the references -- since I quote
this info all the time!

Margery Wilson, IBCLC