More premature babies who had early skin-to-skin contact with their mother were being breastfed at the time of discharge from hospital and for up to one year afterwards. However, this is far from the only benefit.
A team from St. Olavs Hospital and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have looked at this issue in a number of articles. They now hope that more hospitals will change their practice so that premature babies are not separated from their mother during the first few hours after birth.
"The first few hours after birth are an early sensitive period. During this period, the first contact between mother and child is established," said Associate Professor Laila Kristoffersen at the Department of Public Health and Nursing at NTNU.
The research team at NTNU and St. Olav's Hospital in Trondheim have therefore investigated whether immediate skin-to-skin contact after birth for very premature babies and their mothers has an effect on the child's development in both the short and long term.
Early skin-to-skin contact is standard practice for full-term babies
Healthy babies born after reaching full term are normally placed on their mother's chest immediately after birth. Skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby helps strengthen bonding, promote breastfeeding and reduce stress. However, this practice has not been as widespread for premature babies.
"Since premature babies often need medical care after birth, the standard practice is for them to be placed in an incubator and transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit," said Kristoffersen.
This results in mother and baby being separated for several hours, or in the worst case scenario, several days after birth.
From birth, premature babies are more vulnerable than full-term babies, as their brains and other organ systems are not fully developed. This makes it particularly important to facilitate early bonding and a gentle start in life," said Kristoffersen.
This is also in line with the latest WHO recommendations, which recommend immediate skin-to-skin contact for all premature babies.
In Norway, St. Olavs is one of very few hospitals to facilitate such a practice. However, the researchers believe that skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth is safe for babies born as early as week 28 of pregnancy. A normal pregnancy lasts around 40 weeks.
