COMPARISON OF SKIN-TO-SKIN CONTACT WITH STANDARD CONTACT IN LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS WHO ARE BREAST-FED

Objective: To evaluate the effects of maternal-infant skin-to-skin con tact (SSC) vs standard contact (SC) on low-birth-weight infants' physi ological profile, maternal milk production, and duration of breast-fee ding. Design: Prospective, randomized, interventional study with cohor t followed up for 6 months after discharge from the hospital. Setting: Special care nursery with follow-up telephone calls after discharge f rom the hospital. Patients: Fifty infants, with birth weights less tha n 1500 g and whose mothers planned to breast-feed, randomized to 2 gro ups: SSC (experimental) and SC (control). Intervention: In the SSC gro up, infants were clothed in diaper and held upright between mother's b reasts; both mother and infant were covered with a blanket. In the SC group, infants were clothed, wrapped in blankets, and held cradled in mothers' arms. Main Outcome Measures: Infant physiological data, ie, o xygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory rate, and axillary temperatu re; maternal milk production; and duration of breast-feeding. Results: Oxygen saturation was higher during SSC than during SC (P<.001); 11% of the oxygen saturation recordings during SSC vs 24% during SC indica ted the values less than 90% (P<.001). A more stable milk production w as noted in the SSC group. No differences were noted in infant tempera ture, heart rate, or respiratory rate. Ninety percent of mothers in th e SSC group vs 61% in the SC group continued breast-feeding for the du ration of the infants' hospitalization (P<.05), and 50% in the SSC gro up vs 11% in the SC continued breast-feeding through 1 month after dis charge (P<.01). Conclusions: During SSC with their mothers, low-birthw eight infants maintain a higher oxygen saturation and are less likely to have desaturation to less than 90% oxygen than are infants exposed to SC. Mothers in the SSC group are more likely to continue breast-fee ding until I month after discharge.