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Immediate or early skin-to-skin contact after a Caesarean section

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eMediNexus Editorial    12 January 2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund recommends that mothers and newborns have skin-to-skin contact immediately after a vaginal birth, and as soon as the mother is alert and responsive after a Caesarean section.

Skin-to-skin contact can be defined as placing a naked infant onto the bare chest of the mother. Caesarean birth is known to reduce initiation of breastfeeding, increase the length of time before the first breastfeed, reduce the incidence of exclusive breastfeeding, significantly delay the onset of lactation and increase the likelihood of supplementation.

The purpose of an article published in Maternal & Child Nutrition was to evaluate evidence on the facilitation of immediate (within minutes) or early (within one hour) skin-to-skin contact following Caesarean section for healthy mothers and their healthy term newborns, and identify facilitators, barriers and associated maternal and newborn outcomes. Here, a range of electronic databases were searched for papers reporting research findings published in English between January 2003 and October 2013.

The findings of this review of literature provided some evidence that with appropriate collaboration, skin-to-skin contact during Caesarean surgery can be implemented. Additionally, limited evidence suggested that immediate or early skin-to-skin contact after a Caesarean section may increase breastfeeding initiation, decrease time to the first breastfeed, reduce formula supplementation in hospital, increase bonding and maternal satisfaction, maintain the temperature of newborns and reduce newborn stress.

Source: Maternal & Child Nutrition. 2014 Oct;10(4):456-73. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12128.

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