Hospital routines promote parent–infant closeness and cause separation in the birthing unit in the first 2 hours after birth: A pilot study

Abstract

Routines and normal care practices both promoted parent-infant closeness and caused separation. Parent-infant closeness and separation were controlled by staff members of the birthing unit.

Early maternal‐newborn contact and positive birth experience

“…Recent research has documented the positive effects of early maternal‐newborn contact on the newborn's thermoregulation, stress reactivity, and autonomic functioning . However, hospitals have postdelivery routines in place that may involve immediate or early separation of the mother and newborn to assess the newborn and care for the mother . In addition, there is a variety of circumstances in which the newborn or mother may require post‐delivery medical care that precludes immediate or early maternal‐newborn contact.…”

“…experience for the mother and her family. [12][13][14] First maternalnewborn interactions, such as seeing, holding, and feeding the newborn, are part of the complex and not yet fully understood psychobiological process of maternal-newborn bonding. [13][14][15][16] Recent research has documented the positive effects of early maternal-newborn contact on the newborn's thermoregulation, stress reactivity, and autonomic functioning.…”

“…17,18 However, hospitals have postdelivery routines in place that may involve immediate or early separation of the mother and newborn to assess the newborn and care for the mother. 12 In addition, there is a variety of circumstances in which the newborn or mother may require post-delivery medical care that precludes immediate or early maternal-newborn contact. In the case of cesarean delivery, the focus is generally on the postincision care of the mother and there may be little or no opportunity for the mother to see, hold, or feed her newborn for several hours after the delivery.…”

“…In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the importance of the first few minutes after delivery as a window of opportunity to promote maternal‐newborn bonding, successful breastfeeding, and a positive childbirth experience for the mother and her family . First maternal‐newborn interactions, such as seeing, holding, and feeding the newborn, are part of the complex and not yet fully understood psychobiological process of maternal‐newborn bonding .…”

Midwives’ and mothers’ perspectives on skin-to-skin care of premature and low-birthweight infants in Puntland, Somalia

“…In this critical time of life, 77 million new-borns worldwide are not placed skin-to-skin after birth due to culturally related bottlenecks [14]. Health care providers, mothers and family members seem not to prefer placing the new-borns skin-to-skin but rather wrapping them in swaddling clothes or a blanket or placing them in an incubator [15,16]. Based on the Somali situation, with high infant mortality and where skin-toskin care can make the difference between life and death, this study aimed to explore barriers and facilitating factors for introducing skin-to-skin care of premature and lowbirthweight infants, based on the input of mothers and midwives in Puntland, Somalia.…”