EFFECT OF EARLY SKIN TO SKIN CONTACT ON STABILIZATION OF BODY TEMPERATURE OF PRETERM BABIES AND PERCEPTION ON SKIN TO SKIN CONTACT AMONG MOTHERS OF BABIES ADMITTED IN A SELECTED HOSPITAL, BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA

Early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) begins at birth and involves placing the naked baby, head covered with a dry cap and a warm towel across the back, prone on the mother’s bare chest to intimate contact inherent and evokes neurobehaviors ensuring fulfilment of basic biological needs. The objectives of the study were, to compare the body temperature of preterm babies in the experimental and control group in relation to early skin to skin contact and to assess the perception of mothers regarding skin to skin contact. Material and methods: The pre-experimental study only post-test control group designs with sixty samples were collected by a convenience sampling technique. Skin to skin contact was given to the experimental group for 20 minutes in an interval of 3 hours and 3times a day for 3 days and Post-test temperature was measured by using valid digital measuring instrument. The perception of mothers in experimental group towards skin to skin contact was assessed on 3 day in a questionnaire by using Likert scale.