Abstract
Author(s): Bogumila Kielbratowska, Magdalena Lemska, Urszula Sioma-Markowska
Admission. The World Health Organization recommends that a newborn baby should be in skin-to-skin contact with its mother for at least 30 minutes after giving birth and starting breastfeeding. Objective of the work. Assessment of the effect of early skin to skin contact on the duration of breastfeeding. Material and methods. The study included 900 postpartum women in the period between February and December 2019, who gave birth to newborns from a full-term pregnancy with a birth weight of 2500 g, without neonatal disorders, and discharged up to day 5. After 9 months, an online survey was conducted. There were 803 responses that were data for analyzes of length of breastfeeding. Results. The mean skin to skin contact time was 4.6 + 11.8 min, the median was 2.0 min, and the mean contact time was 17 + 31 min, median 5 min. A total of 79.6% of newborns had contact with the mother after childbirth, the most after vaginal delivery - 83%, and the least after cesarean section - 71%. The duration of exclusive breastfeeding among women who were allowed to skin to skin contact after delivery was on average 4.1 months, while among women who did not have contact, 3.6 months. Conclusions. The way the childbirth takes place influences the skin to skin contact with the baby. Use of the medical procedure "skin to skin" recommended in the guidelines of the "10. Steps to Successful Breastfeeding ”has a positive effect on the length of the breastfeeding period. Women who were allowed skin to skin contact after childbirth significantly longer breastfed only.