Skin-to-skin contact is a key part of the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative standards. It helps babies adjust to life outside the womb and supports mothers to initiate breastfeeding and develop close, loving relationships with their baby.What is skin-to-skin contact?Skin-to-skin contact is usually referred to as the practice where a baby is dried and laid directly on the mother’s bare chest after birth, both of them covered in a warm blanket and left for at least an hour or until after the first feed. Skin-to-skin contact can also take place any time a baby needs comforting or calming and can help boost a mother’s milk supply. Skin-to-skin contact is vital in neonatal units where it is often known as ‘kangaroo care’. Here it helps parents bond with their baby and supports better physical and developmental outcomes for the baby. Show
Why is skin-to-skin contact important?There is a growing body of evidence that skin-to-skin contact after the birth helps babies and their mothers. The practice:
Skin-to-skin contact also provides benefits for babies in the neonatal unit, in that it:
What happens during skin-to-skin contact?When a mother holds her baby in skin-to-skin contact after birth, it initiates strong instinctive behaviours in both. The mother will experience a surge of maternal hormones and begin to smell, stroke and engage with her baby. Babies’ instincts after birth will drive them to follow a unique process, which if left uninterrupted will result in them having a first breastfeed. If they are enabled to familiarise themselves with their mother’s breast and achieve self-attachment, it is very likely that they will recall this at subsequent feeds, resulting in fewer breastfeeding problems. After birth, babies who are placed skin-to-skin on their mother’s chest will:
Most term healthy babies will follow this process, providing it is not interrupted by anything, for example taking the baby away to weigh or the mother going for a shower. Interrupting the process before the baby has completed this sequence or trying to hurry them through the stages may lead to problems at subsequent breastfeeds. If the mother has been given a lot of analgesia during labour, the baby may be drowsy and this process can take longer. Skin-to-skin contact in the Baby Friendly standardsThe Baby Friendly standards require that skin-to-skin contact is valued and supported in hospitals. Maternity units are required to ensure that:
Neonatal units are required to ensure that:
Safety considerationsVigilance of the baby’s well-being is a fundamental part of postnatal care immediately following and in the first few hours after birth. For this reason, normal observations of the baby’s temperature, breathing, colour and tone should continue throughout the period of skin-to-skin contact in the same way as would occur if the baby were in a cot (this includes calculation of the Apgar score at 1, 5 and 10 minutes following birth). Care should always be taken to ensure that the baby is kept warm. Observations should also be made of the mother, with prompt removal of the baby if the health of either gives rise to concern. Staff should have a conversation with the mother and her companion about the importance of recognising changes in the baby’s colour or tone and the need to alert staff immediately if they are concerned. It is important to ensure that the baby cannot fall on to the floor or become trapped in bedding or by the mother’s body. Mothers should be encouraged to be in a semi-recumbent position to hold and feed their baby. Particular care should be taken with the position of the baby, ensuring the head is supported so the infant’s airway does not become obstructed Notes – Mothers
Notes – Babies All babies should be routinely monitored whilst in skin-to-skin contact with mother or father. The following observations should be included.
Always listen to parents and respond immediately to any concerns raised What are the factors that speed up the dilation of the cervix?Getting up and moving around may help speed dilation by increasing blood flow. Walking around the room, doing simple movements in bed or chair, or even changing positions may encourage dilation. This is because the weight of the baby applies pressure to the cervix.
When a baby is born What stimulates it to take its first breath quizlet?What is the stimulus for the baby's first breath? The stimulus to breathe results primarily from the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood after the umbilical cord is cut.
What are the factors that affect the onset of labor?Factors Affecting Labor. At least five factors affect the process of labor and birth. These are easily remembered as the five Ps: passenger (fetus and placenta), passageway (birth canal), powers (contractions), position of the mother, and psychologic response.
What is the most critical physiologic change required of the newborn after birth?The most essential adaptation to birth is the initiation of breathing, but the airspaces of the fetal lung are filled with fetal lung fluid.
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