Mother’s Experiences and Perceptions of a Continuous Caring Model with Fathers after Caesarean Section: A Qualitative Study.
Research has shown the benefits of early newborn contact for the parents.1,2 The opportunity to hold the newborn infant immediately after birth is the pinnacle of the childbearing process. Previous studies have shown the benefits of early parent infant contact after birth, which include increased parental sensitivity to the infants signals and the way the newborn presents itself improved initiation of breastfeeding and calmer infant with improved pre-feeding behavior.
A Systematic Cochrane Review of 34 Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) by Moore, et al.,9
explored the benefits of early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and newborn infants immediately after birth. The review involved 2177 mother-infant dyads and these were the results: breastfeeding increased; cardio-respiratory stabilized; infant crying decreased.
However, in many hospitals around the world the caesarean section rate is increasing with no specific efforts to ensure mothers have body contact with their infant in the first minutes
and hours after birth and this delays the first breastfeeding. Biro, et al.,3 examined the association between maternity care and the model of early newborn contact. Their study found that the majority (92%) of women whose babies remained with them said that holding their babies as soon and for as long as they liked immediately after birth was essential. However, for women
separated from their newborns only a minority (47%) reported that holding their baby was essential to them.
Women Health Open J. 2015; 1(3): 63-71. doi: 10.17140/WHOJ-1-110
