Maternal Satisfaction and Experience with Skin to Skin Contact Immediately After Cesarean Birth: Implications for Practice

Abstract

Skin-to-Skin contact (SSC) immediately following birth is being recognized as important for mother and infant health and is related to mothers' satisfaction with the birthing experience.SSC immediately following cesarean birth can have similar outcomes, however the practice is not widely adopted. The purpose of this scholarly project was to describe the satisfaction and overall patient experience of birth mothers regarding SSC with their infants immediately following Cesarean Birth. The Modified Questionnaire Measuring Attitudes About Labor and Delivery (QMAALD) measured maternal satisfaction and the Picker Patient Experience survey measured patient experience. Thirty mothers who had a cesarean birth completed both surveys and while there was no relationship between separation time and higher scores, over 80% of the mothers had overall satisfaction and patient experience.