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

The Effect of Mother and Newborn Early Skin-to-skin Contact on Initiation of Breastfeeding, Newborn Temperature and Duration of Third Stage of Labor

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Breastfeeding
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Skin to skin contact

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 108
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Iraq
  • Erbil, Iraq, 44001
    • Kolsoom Safari

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• healthy women with term singleton pregnancy

Exclusion Criteria:

• low APGAR score in Newborn

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mother and newborn skin to skin contact; 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.	Other: Skin to skin contact; 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.
No Intervention: Conventional care; In the routine care group, the infant was delivered from the mother by a midwife, wrapped in blankets, taken to be routinely cared under a warmer, and then dried quickly. Afterwards, the Apgar score was determined immediately after the umbilical cord was cut. The infants were provided with all routine care by the midwife working in the delivery room. After the infants were weighed, dressed, and measured, they were handed to their mothers who were encouraged to begin breastfeeding.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Early initiation of breastfeeding	Time to initiate breastfeeding	Immediately After birth
Third stage of labour	Duration of third stage of labour	birth
Newborn temperature	Newborn temperature 30 minutes after birth	30 minutes after birth
Success of first breastfeeding	Success of first breastfeeding assessed by LATCH scale	Immediately after birth

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hawler Medical University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Safari K, Saeed AA, Hasan SS, Moghaddam-Banaem L. The effect of mother and newborn early skin-to-skin contact on initiation of breastfeeding, newborn temperature and duration of third stage of labor. Int Breastfeed J. 2018 Jul 16;13:32. doi: 10.1186/s13006-018-0174-9. eCollection 2018.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 30, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): May 30, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 23, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 5, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): June 7, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 8, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 6, 2018
• Last Verified: June 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: I would make IPD available if any researcher required them , since I I save my participants information by coding.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No