Effect of immediate and continuous mother–infant skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding self-efficacy of primiparous women: A randomised control trial
Introduction
Breast milk is the optimal nutritional source for infants1, 2, 3, 4 and it provides species and age specific nutrients and the best nutritional balance for them.1, 2, 3, 4 Despite breast milk's great benefits for the health of infants, breastfeeding rates are declining all around the world,5, 6 as well as in our country Iran.7 This decrease in exclusive breastfeeding rate is partly due to separating mother and the infant after birth.8
The first 2 h after birth is called the sensitive period9 and this is the best time for mother to initiate breastfeeding the infant.10 In this period, maternal–infant separation, even for a short time, can decrease the neonate's ability to initiate breastfeeding and may also lead to a reduction in maternal confidence and self-efficacy.11, 12, 13 Immediate mother–infant skin-to-skin contact (SSC) after birth has been proven most effective in successful initiation and continuation of breastfeeding.14
Skin-to-skin contact is achieved by holding the naked baby against the mother's chest between her breasts.15 The effect of mother–infant skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding behaviours of infants is well known.16, 17, 18
Importance of maternal self-efficacy on breastfeeding initiation and continuation has been demonstrated consistently.14, 19, 20 Breastfeeding self-efficacy refers to the confidence of a woman in her ability to breast feed her baby.21, 22 This study was conducted to assess the effect of early mother infant skin-to-skin contact on maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy.
Section snippets
Setting
A randomised control trial was conducted from 1st April 2012 to 31st July 2012 in Omolbanin obstetrics hospital (large tertiary hospital), Mashhad, Iran. This hospital is affiliated with the faculty of medicine of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
Participants
The study population consisted of 114 primiparous, Iranian, healthy, full term mothers between 18 and 35 years of age who anticipated normal vaginal delivery and intended to breastfeed their babies.
Mother–infant pairs were considered ineligible
Results
114 eligible mothers according to inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in this research programme. At the end of the study 92 mother–infant dyads were assessed.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants are shown in Table 2. There is no significant inter-group baseline difference between the 2 study groups.
Mean BSES score was 53.42 ± 8.57 SD in SSC group and 49.85 ± 5.50 in RC group and the student's t-test shows a significant difference between them (p = 0.0008).
Success in
Discussion
The results of this study show that immediate mother–infant skin-to-skin contact leads to higher breastfeeding self-efficacy in mothers. During skin-to-skin contact, mothers provide tactile and verbal stimulation to their newborn infants and this practice improves breastfeeding behaviours of healthy full term infants.16, 17, 28 This method of care is also associated with greater levels of maternal satisfaction and mothers gain higher confidence in their ability to breastfeed and care for their
Conclusion
Our study has shown that immediate mother–infant skin-to-skin contact is an easy, inexpensive and non-invasive method of increasing maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy and confidence. Improved breastfeeding self-efficacy will result in exclusive breastfeeding and can prevent premature discontinuation of breastfeeding. This shows that hospital practices can have an important influence on breastfeeding self-efficacy. Early separation of mother and infants should strongly be discouraged.
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