The Effect of Early Skin-to-skin Contact on Initiation of Breastfeeding, Newborn Temperature and Duration of Third Stage of Labor
Condition: Breastfeeding
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Background: Keeping mother and newborn skin-to-skin contact (SSC) after birth brings about
      numerous protective effects; however, it is an intervention that is underutilized in Iraq
      where a globally considerable rate of maternal and child death has been reported. The present
      study was carried out in order to assess the effects of mother and newborn skin-to-skin
      contact on initiation of breastfeeding, newborn temperature, and duration of the third stage
      of labor.

      Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 108 healthy women and their neonates (56
      in the intervention group with mother and newborn skin-to-skin contact and 52 in the control
      group that were provided with routine postpartum care) at maternity teaching hospital of
      Erbil, Iraq from February to May, 2017. The required data were collected using four
      instruments. The first instrument was a structured interview to elicit socio-demographic and
      obstetric characteristics from the participants. The second instrument was a form that was
      used to assess the duration of the third stage of labor in mothers. The third instrument was
      a form to record the newborns' axillary temperature. The fourth instrument was the LATCH
      scale that was employed to assess the success of the first breastfeed.Descriptive
      relationships between demographic variables and type of care provided for mothers and
      newborns after birth were explored using means and SD for continuous variables, whilst
      categorical variables were described using proportions. The relationship between SSC and time
      to initiate breastfeeding, duration of third stage of labour, success of breastfeeding,
      newborn hypothermia, and temperature of the newborn 30 minutes after birth were examined
      using T test and Chi square. In logistic regression model, the effect of SSC and conventional
      care on outcomes of the study was analysed by adjusting of potential confounders like
      mother's age, education level, occupation, number of parity, and newborn gender.
    


Intervention name(s): Skin to skin contact
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): By assistance of the researcher, intervention infants were placed undressed in a prone position against their mothers' bare chest between breasts immediately after birth and before placental delivery and suturing of tears or episiotomy. The Apgar score was determined, the infant's nose and mouth were suctioned while on the mother's chest, it was well dried, and both mother and infant were covered with a pre-warmed blanket. To prevent heat loss, the infant's head was covered with a dry cap that was replaced when it became damp. Dressing and measuring of the infant were postponed to an hour after the delivery by registered midwife.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Quasi-experimental study
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research