Immediate, uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding after birth: A cross-sectional electronic survey

Abstract

Objective: To determine the incidence of immediate, uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding after birth; and which factors are associated with it. Design: Cross-sectional e-survey was developed and piloted prior to distribution. Sampling was purposive and included snowball sampling. Associations between maternity care practices and the primary outcome measure were examined using logistic regression. Setting: Australia Participants: Women who birthed a term baby within the previous three years, in any Australian setting (hospital, birth centre or at home), were eligible to participate. Measurements and findings: 1200 postpartum women met the eligibility criteria and completed the e-survey. The primary outcome, 'pronurturance', included: 1) immediate mother/baby holding; 2) skin-to-skin contact; 3) uninterrupted holding for at least 60 minutes; 4) breastfeeding in the birth setting. Of 1,200 participants, 22% (n=258) experienced pronurturance. Pronurturance was less likely following caesarean section (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 0.07, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.03-0.17). Pronurturance was more likely with a known midwife during labour and birth (aOR 1.89, 95% CI 1.35-2.65). Contributing to the low rate of pronurturance were lack of antenatal skin-to-skin information; babies being wrapped; women wearing clothing; and non-urgent caregiver interruptions including weighing the baby or facilitating the mother to shower. Key conclusion: Health services must strategically address the institutional processes which delay and/or interrupt skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in both birth suite and operating theatre settings. Implications for practice: Midwives and midwifery students providing continuity of carer are best placed to provide pronurturance to mothers and babies. Caregivers should educate women about pronurturance antenatally, and actively support immediate, uninterrupted mother/baby skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding after birth.

Skin to Skin Contact and the Early Initiation of Breastfeeding: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…A fact also observed by other studies, which revealed that women undergoing cesarean section, have almost three times the risk of not performing SCC with early initiation of breastfeeding. Newborns born by vaginal delivery were more prepared to start breastfeeding compared to those born by cesarean section, since they spent more time in early contact with the mother [10][11]19,27 . These data corroborate the findings of this research.…”

Skin-to-skin contact between mothers and full-term newborns after birth: a cross-sectional study

“…In a study that included 1,200 mother-child binomials, SSC after birth was performed by 100% all of them (15) , contrary to this of Skin-to-skin contact between mothers and full-term newborns after birth: a cross-sectional study Kuamoto RS, Bueno M, Riesco MLG.…”

Maternal perceptions and experiences of breastfeeding support in Baby-Friendly hospitals: An integrative review

“…However, regardless of the mothers initiating early skin-to-skin contact, the duration of SSC was often shorter than the recommended 60 min. Previously it has been shown that non-urgent practices, such as weighing the baby or assisting the mother to have a shower, interrupted the continuous SSC between the mother and her infant ( Allen et al., 2019 ). Early SCC establishes a good starting point for breastfeeding as it contributes to the initiation, length, and exclusivity of breastfeeding, and increases support for better physiological stability of the infant in adapting to extrauterine life ( Moore et al., 2016 ).…”