Skin-to-skin contact may reduce negative consequences of "the stress of being born": a study on temperature in newborn infants, subjected to different ward routines in St. Petersburg

Bystrova, Ksenia; Widström, Ann‐Marie; Matthiesen, A.-S.; Ransjö-Arvidson, A B; Welles‐Nyström, Barbara; Wassberg, C; Воронцов, И. М.; Uvnäs‐Moberg, Kerstin

doi:10.1080/08035250310009248

Cited by 47 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Our interpretation is that the skin-to-skin contact with the mother induced calmness in the infant. Bystrova et al suggested that skin-to-skin early after birth decreases the negative effects of “the stress of being born” [25]. It is likely that skin-to-skin contact with the mother even in these older infants will counteract “the stress of being forced to breastfeed”.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on severe latch-on problems in older infants: a randomized trial

et al. 2013

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BackgroundInfants with latch-on problems cause stress for parents and staff, often resulting in early termination of breastfeeding. Healthy newborns experiencing skin-to-skin contact at birth are pre-programmed to find the mother’s breast. This study investigates if skin-to-skin contact between mothers with older infants having severe latching on problems would resolve the problem.MethodsMother-infant pairs with severe latch-on problems, that were not resolved during screening procedures at two maternity hospitals in Stockholm 1998–2004, were randomly assigned to skin-to-skin contact (experimental group) or not (control group) during breastfeeding. Breastfeeding counseling was given to both groups according to a standard model. Participants were unaware of their treatment group. Objectives were to compare treatment groups concerning the proportion of infants regularly latching on, the time from intervention to regular latching on and maternal emotions and pain before and during breastfeeding.ResultsOn hundred and three mother-infant pairs with severe latch-on problems 1–16 weeks postpartum were randomly assigned and analyzed. There was no significant difference between the groups in the proportion of infants starting regular latching-on (75% experimental group, vs. 86% control group). Experimental group infants, who latched on, had a significantly shorter median time from start of intervention to regular latching on than control infants, 2.0 weeks (Q1 = 1.0, Q3 = 3.7) vs. 4.7 weeks (Q1 = 2.0, Q3 = 8.0), (p-value = 0.020). However, more infants in the experimental group (94%), with a history of “strong reaction” during “hands-on latch intervention”, latched-on within 3 weeks compared to 33% in the control infants (Fisher Exact test p-value = 0.0001). Mothers in the experimental group (n = 53) had a more positive breastfeeding experience according to the Breastfeeding Emotional Scale during the intervention than mothers in the control group (n = 50) (p-value = 0.022).ConclusionsSkin-to-skin contact during breastfeeding seems to immediately enhance maternal positive feelings and shorten the time it takes to resolve severe latch-on problems in the infants who started to latch. An underlying mechanism may be that skin-to-skin contact with the mother during breastfeeding may calm infants with earlier strong reaction to “hands on latch intervention” and relieve the stress which may have blocked the infant’s inborn biological program to find the breast and latch on.Trial registrationKarolinska Clinical Trial Registration number CT20100055

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on severe latch-on problems in older infants: a randomized trial

et al. 2013

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“…However traditional education materials (pictures/diagrams) explicitly instruct midwives to teach mothers to elicit the gape reflex by holding the baby away from their body then ‘quickly bring the baby to the breast’ [27,45,71-73]. This instruction may be a source of confusion to mothers, when ‘correct’ positioning and ‘correct’ attachment are emphasised in the postnatal period [7,42,74,75]. Despite revised global criteria teaching materials there remains disparity between teaching positioning and attachment in the birthing room and for subsequent breastfeeds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The benefits of skin-to-skin contact between mother and newborn during the first hours after birth are well known [7-15]. Skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn enhances both newborn feeding ability and behaviours conducive to suckling ability [16-19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective suckling in relation to naked maternal-infant body contact in the first hour of life: an observation study

Cantrill

Creedy

Cooke

et al. 2014

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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BackgroundBest practice guidelines to promote breastfeeding suggest that (i) mothers hold their babies in naked body contact immediately after birth, (ii) babies remain undisturbed for at least one hour and (iii) breastfeeding assistance be offered during this period. Few studies have closely observed the implementation of these guidelines in practice. We sought to evaluate these practices on suckling achievement within the first hour after birth.MethodsObservations of seventy-eight mother-baby dyads recorded newborn feeding behaviours, the help received by mothers and birthing room practices each minute, for sixty minutes.ResultsDuration of naked body contact between mothers and their newborn babies varied widely from 1 to 60 minutes, as did commencement of suckling (range = 10 to 60 minutes). Naked maternal-infant body contact immediately after birth, uninterrupted for at least thirty minutes did not predict effective suckling within the first hour of birth. Newborns were four times more likely to sustain deep rhythmical suckling when their chin made contact with their mother’s breast as they approached the nipple (OR 3.8; CI 1.03 - 14) and if their mothers had given birth previously (OR 6.7; CI 1.35 - 33). Infants who had any naso-oropharyngeal suctioning administered at birth were six times less likely to suckle effectively (OR .176; CI .04 - .9).ConclusionEffective suckling within the first hour of life was associated with a collection of practices including infants positioned so their chin can instinctively nudge the underside of their mother’s breast as they approach to grasp the nipple and attach to suckle. The best type of assistance provided in the birthing room that enables newborns to sustain an effective latch was paying attention to newborn feeding behaviours and not administering naso-oropharyngeal suction routinely.

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“…One is the duration of long-term developmental studies; another is the interference of uncontrolled factors during development and their potential resilience effects. Thus, while the impact of early care of babies and their associated experience (being separated from their mother, handled, having suckled, or not during the first hour after birth) is questioned (Klaus and Kennell, 2001) with observable short-term effects (Long et al, 1980; Jansson et al, 1995; Bystrova et al, 2003), some scarce studies on potential long-term effects indicate impacts of postpartum experience still visible in 3- or 5-year-old children (Ringler et al, 1978; Wiberg et al, 1989). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Postpartum handling may require separation from the mother at a very early stage, and intensive handling (bathing, weighting, eye ointment…) that persists even if the infant protests by crying or agitating its arms and legs (Bystrova et al, 2003). This is a typical situation when the individual has no control over the situation and this questions the possibility of its effects on later reaction modalities to stressful situations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locomotor Inhibition in Adult Horses Faced to Stressors: A Single Postpartum Experience May be Enough!

Durier¹,

Henry²,

Sankey³

et al. 2012

Front. Psychology

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Despite the number of postpartum handling that a newborn experiences, few studies focus on their long-term consequences. In rats, regular long separations from the mother, during the early life, led to modifications of the locomotor activity when the animal is confronted to a stressor. In horses, one component of the behavioral response to stressful situation is active locomotion. We wondered if the routine postpartum handling undergone by foals, would affect their level of reactivity or the way they express their stress, when older. One single prolonged bout of handling just after birth clearly affected later adult expression of stress reactivity. In social separation associated with novelty, handled, and unhandled horses produced an equal amount of whinnies, showing a similar vocal response to stress. However, both groups differed in their locomotor response to the situations. Early handled foals expressed less of the active forms of locomotion than the control group. Our findings highlight the need of further reflections on long-term effects of routine handlings procedures close to birth.

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Skin-to-skin contact may reduce negative consequences of "the stress of being born": a study on temperature in newborn infants, subjected to different ward routines in St. Petersburg

Abstract: The results show that delivery-ward routines influence skin temperature in infants in the postnatal period. Allowing mother and baby the ward routine of skin-to-skin contact after birth may be a "natural way" of reversing stress-related effects on circulation induced during labour.

Cited by 47 publications

References 13 publications

Effects of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on severe latch-on problems in older infants: a randomized trial

Effects of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on severe latch-on problems in older infants: a randomized trial

Effective suckling in relation to naked maternal-infant body contact in the first hour of life: an observation study

Locomotor Inhibition in Adult Horses Faced to Stressors: A Single Postpartum Experience May be Enough!

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