Golden hour
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Supporting the ‘Golden hour’ for mother-infant skin to skin contact at elective caesarean sections.
IRAS ID
241299
Contact name
Marianne E White
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
This study aims to investigate the clinical environment during an elective caesarean section and how practice can be adapted to support immediate skin to skin care at birth for all women and babies within this environment. The perceived barriers and facilitators will be explored from the perspective of both health professional and parental views regarding care practices at elective caesarean section.
Skin to skin contact is the term used when the naked newborn is placed on the mother’s bare chest after birth. For newborns this is now recognized as optimal care not only for the establishment of breastfeeding but for beginning that close relationship with their mother. For skin to skin care to be optimised it should be uninterrupted for at least the first hour following birth. It is particularly important following birth by elective caesarean section which is associated with decreased rates of maternal satisfaction, lower rates of breastfeeding and disrupted maternal bonding.
Despite skin to skin care becoming the norm for vaginal birth, hospital routines and ‘usual’ care practices within the operating theatre do not promote this practice due to a number of barriers. We hope to explore this through focus groups and interviews with parents and health professionals involved in elective caesarean sections. In addition to this we will observe elective caesarean sections, analyze local breastfeeding data and devise audit tools to capture information regarding the availability and duration of skin to skin care for women undergoing elective caesarean sections.
From this information teaching packages for health professionals and parents will be developed to facilitate learning regarding the benefits of skin to skin care and how this can be supported within the operating theatre environment. Existing guidelines will then be revised and implemented to support skin to skin care within the operating theatre.REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
18/ES/0023
Date of REC Opinion
13 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion