Objective The aim of the study was to assess an influence of postnatal education in “The School of Mothers” on the communication between mothers and their babies during the postnatal period.

Methods The study involved 400 lying-in women and their newborn babies hospitalized in the obstetric and neonatal wards in the clinical hospital in Szczecin in the years 2004–2005. The study was based on the comparison of two groups of women: those educated in the School of Mothers during their stay in the maternity ward and those who did not undertake postnatal education. A questionnaire of the author’s own design was used as a research tool.

Results The results show that attempts to build proper relations with babies during the first days after childbirth were made in both groups. They were realised mainly by breastfeeding, touching and Kangaroo care. The women involved in postnatal education statistically more often gave health reasons for communication with their babies than the women not included in the postnatal education programme. The “educated” women applied Kangaroo care twice as often as the women from the other group. The women from the “non-educated” group statistically more often did not know of Kangaroo care as a method of communicating with a baby.

Conclusions Women who participated in postnatal education more often and more consciously communicated with their babies in the postnatal period.