Objective: To evaluate dose of skin-to-skin (STS) contact as a nursing intervention to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding after dischargeDesign: A descriptive correlational studySetting: A Level II maternity unit in OhioParticipants: Women who had a vaginal delivery of a term, well newborn, with intent to exclusively breastfeedMethods: Newborns were placed STS with their mothers at birth. Mothers were encouraged to maintain frequent STS with their newborns while in the hospital, and kept a log of STS time. A lactation consultant made follow-up phone calls at 4 weeks and 8 weeks postpartum to assess breastfeeding exclusivity. Spearman rho was used to analyze the data.Results: Duration of STS was not correlated with exclusive breastfeeding at either 4 weeks or 8 weeks postpartum. However, early STS was correlated with exclusive breastfeeding at 4 weeks postpartum.

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