Effects of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding and neurobehavioral development of premature infants after discharge from hospital
Objective To evaluate the effect of skin-to-skin contact(SSC)post-discharge on breastfeeding practices and neurobehavioral development among premature infants,in order to provide reference for promoting breastfeeding.Methods A cohort of 103 premature infants was established between June 1st and December 31st,2021,at maternal and child health institutions in Hefei.SSC was implemented following discharge.Participants were categorized into continuous SSC group if SSC was maintained for one month post-discharge with completed follow-ups,and intermittent SSC group if SSC was not consistently practiced but follow-ups were completed.Breastfeeding self-efficacy and neurobehavioral development were monitored and assessed at corrected ages of 1,3,and 6 months based on the intervention protocol.Results Among the 103 premature infants,40 were in the continuous SSC group,60 in the intermittent SSC group,and 3 were lost to follow-up.At the corrected age of 1 month,the continuous SSC group scored significantly higher on breastfeeding self-efficacy compared to the intermittent SSC group(Z=3.390,P=0.001).By corrected ages of 3 and 6 months,the exclusive breastfeeding rates were significantly higher in the continuous SSC group(x2=5.627,4.931,P＜0.05);specifically,47.5％in the continuous SSC group maintained exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months,compared to 26.7％in the intermittent group(x2=4.579,P=0.032).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis identified post-discharge continuous SSC as a factor for promoting sustained breastfeeding(OR=0.27,95％CI:0.09-0.80,P＜0.05).No statistically significant differences were found in neurobehavioral development scores across domains between the groups at 3 and 6 months(P＞0.05).Conclusion Sustained SSC post-discharge enhances breastfeeding self-efficacy among mothers of premature infants and increases the rate of continued breastfeeding.No significant effect of prolonged SSC on the neurobehavioral development of premature infants post-discharge is observed.
premature birthskin-to-skin contactbreastfeedingneurobehavioral development
万方数据
维普
