Abstract
Problem
Women having an elective caesarean birth are often separated from their babies at
birth with newborns transferred to a postnatal ward with the significant other.
Background
Two midwives were employed in 2019 to provide skin-to-skin contact for women who planned
for elective caesarean births in a public hospital in metropolitan New South Wales
with 4000 births per year and a 39% CB rate (57.8% of these births being elective).
Aim
To compare the outcomes for women and their newborns on the effects of skin-to-skin
contact at elective caesarean births within the first five minutes of birth to those
who did not have skin-to-skin contact and to explore the lived experiences of women
having skin-to-skin contact during their elective caesarean births.
Methods
A quasi-experimental design study with a qualitative component of in-depth interviews.
Quantitative analyses included independent t-tests, chi square and logistic regression.
Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data.
Findings
In the quantitative results, there was a reduction in the time to the first feed (t(100)
= −11.32, p < 0.001) (M = 38.9, SE = 20.7) (M = 124.9, SE = 50.1) and the first breastfeed (t(100) = −5.2, p < 0.001) (M = 53.2, SE = 82.5)
(M = 277, SE = 295.8) with increased breastfeeding on discharge for women that had
skin-to-skin contact at caesarean birth in comparison to those who did not receive
skin-to-skin contact χ2(1) = 10.22, p < 0.05. In the qualitative results, women who
had skin-to-skin contact during their caesarean birth had a positive experience with
improved bonding and reported less anxiety and depression than their previous caesarean
birth.
Conclusion
This study provides evidence of the benefits of skin-to-skin contact during a caesarean
birth.
Abbreviations:
SSC (skin-to-skin contact), CB (caesarean birth), BF (breastfeed), NICU (neonatal intensive care), BGL (blood glucose level), AF (artificial (breast milk substitute/formula) feed), NH (neonatal hypoglycaemia)Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 26, 2022
Accepted:
January 20,
2022
Received in revised form:
January 19,
2022
Received:
July 16,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
