MOTHER BABY ROOMING-IN AND ONSET OF BREAS T-FEEDING AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective. To establish a mother-baby's rooming-in program (RI) in a h ospital that provides a tertiary level of care. Material and Methods, Babies born to healthy mothers were included, both delivered vaginally (P) and by cesarean section (C). Information was gathered on the caus e for RI suspension, the type of infant's feeding and the mother's opi nion about the program. Results. Sixty-eight per cent of P infants and 98% of C infants participated in the program. The time from delivery to RI was uncovered; for P babies it was 5.8 hours and for C babies it was 17 hours. The RI was suspended in 1% of P and 6.7% of C infants, but with no justifiable medical reason in the infants. The mother's op inion about RI was very favorable. Only 50% of the infants starred bre ast feeding within the first 6 hours after birth; however, all of them were breastfed at the time of discharge. Conclusions. It is possible to establish RI and initiate breast feeding in a tertiary care hospita l, even in mothers with cesarean section.