Research Problem/Purpose or Question Hypothesis
The article under consideration dwells upon the skin-to-skin contact after cesarean delivery. The background for the research is the information that children suffer from mild hypothermia after cesarean delivery. The main purpose of the research was to compare the temperature of mothers and infants just after the cesarean delivery and after the routine care had been accomplished and prove that the skin-to-skin contact is safe for infants. The difference of the situations is that in the first case, the child is placed on mother’s chest naked and immediately after the cesarean delivery, while the other mothers are deprived of such an opportunity and are given their babies in 2 hour time.
Review of Literature
The authors of the experiment conducted a literature review on the topic to check the experiments which were conducted in the sphere and consider the results that were obtained. The literature review showed that no similar research was conducted. Moreover, there are both the supporters and opponents of the skin-to skin contact. Being supported by WTO, the skin-to-skin contact after the cesarean delivery is still appears to be harmful as some authors prove that such babies have hypothermia and it may lead to the risk of them getting cold.
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
Still, the research conducted by Bergman et al (2004) and analyzed in the article highlights that babies whose birth weight is between 1,200 and 2,199 g and who were brought to skin-to-skin contact were less susceptible to hypothermia. Still, the cesarean delivered babies are more susceptible to hypothermia because the temperature in the operating room is low as well as the temperature of the mother. In addition, locoregional anesthesia can also lead to the hypothermia. Though, the authors of the article managed to find the experiment that was conducted in 1980 and dealt with skin-to-skin contact of cesarean delivered babies.
Research Design
The research was conducted in the Mother and Child Department of Pinerollo Hospital in Italy. The method of the experiment was designed by O’Brien. The experiment should have been conducted in four levels. The mothers were divided into two groups, those who were predicted to experience the skin-to-skin contact and those who were presupposed to routine care. The women on 38-42 weeks gestation who were prescribed to cesarean delivery with locoregional anesthesia took part at the experiment. To the point, the four level analysis that is predicted should give trusted results.
Sampling Method/Data Collection
As it was mentioned above, the data was collected in four stages. On the first stage, the general physical characteristics of both the newborn and the mother were gathered. Second, the temperature was taken in both groups after the arrival from the operating room and each 30 minutes. The effectiveness of the first breast-feeding session was considered. The mothers were free to choose the time for feeding. Their personal feelings and emotions in the moment were not considered. The information on the exclusive breast-feeding at discharge was gathered from the hospital records. The group that used the skin-to-skin contact technique was asked to answer some questions. The questionnaire was used to check mothers’ satisfaction with the method and the desire to recommend the method to others.
Procedures/Ethics
The experiment began at February 13, 2007 and finished at early August, 2007. The procedure of the experiment was as follows, newborns of the both groups were dried, given to mothers on a brief contact and taken to neonatal room. The infants were bathed, dried, inspected and weighted. For about an hour, the infants were far from their mothers as different procedures were conducted on them. Then, the group of skin-to-skin contact was given their babies naked. The other group could either take their babies to the room or leave them in the neonatal one and have a rest. It is significant to notice that both groups were given their babies for a short contact. The first contact is extremely important and it is crucial that the experiment did not violate mothers’ rights for the first contact with their babies no matter which group they belonged to.
Presentation of Data, Data Analysis, Results/Findings
Checking the results on the temperature, no significant difference was observed, the temperature drop from 36.00C to 35.00C was in the group of skin-to-skin contact and in the other group the temperature drop was observed from 36.30C to 35.90C. The results of the effectiveness of the first breast-feed were affirmative in both groups. Two cases of putting babies under a radiant warmer were noticed. The temperature of babies was 35.30C and 35.40C (Gouchon, 2010). Considering the women’s satisfaction with the skin-to-skin contact technique, all the women who completed the questionnaire were satisfied with the results and wanted to recommend the technique to others.
Conclusions/Recommendations
In conclusion, the results of the conducted experiment did not point to dissatisfactory or distrusted ones. The skin-to-skin technique was extremely important and useful for mothers and their babies. The two cases where the mild hypothermia was observed did not cause any danger to babies. Having considered the results of the experiment, it should be recommended to use the skin-to-skin technique. Furthermore, to assure in the safety of the method for cesarean delivered children, the information from different clinics on the cases of complications of the skin-to-skin contact should be considered.
Reference List
Gouchon, S., Gregori, D., Picotto, A., Patrucco, G., Nangeroni, M., & Giulio, P. (2010). Skin-to-skin contact after cesarean delivery. Nursing Research, 59(2), 1-7.