Immediate skin-to-skin contact during cesarean section – A pilot study with simulation characters

Background

In extended gentle caesarean section mother sees the baby when the baby is born but does not get the baby directly to skin contact from the operation area. A caesarean section with a drape with a transparent window allows mother to have a direct skin contact with the newborn. This method has not been studied earlier.

Aim

A pilot study to describe one traditional way and two gentle ways of taking a newborn to the mother’s skin contact during a cesarean section and to analyse the time lapse between the umbilical cut and the placement of the child to skin contact.

Methods

The simulation (SIM) characters were the study subjects. In the first method, the mother could not see the child through an opaque section drape. The operator gave the baby to the midwife, who then took the baby to the mother. In the second method, the mother saw the baby through a transparent anesthesy cover. The baby was otherwise handled as in the first method. In the third method, a drape with a transparent window was used. Here, the mother saw the baby when the baby was born. The baby was passed through the drape opening to the mother’s skin contact. Time lapse between umbilical cut and skin contact was analysed.

Results

In the first and second methods, the time between the umbilical cut and the mothers’ skin contact ranged from 11 to 20 and in the third 20 to 65 s. In the third method a minor technical difficulty was seen once.

Conclusion

The method of giving the baby through a transparent drape with a window to the mother’s skin contact during a caesarean section is not superior as measured in time, but it might improve bonding between the mother and the baby.