Early Skin-to-Skin Contact in Preterm Infants: Is It Safe? An Italian Experience

Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is one of the four components of kangaroo care (KC) and is also a valued alternative to incubators in low-income countries. SSC has also become a standard of care in high-income countries because of its short- and long-term benefits and its positive effect on infant growth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Children (Basel) 2023-03, Vol.10 (3), p.570
Main Authors: Bedetti, Luca, Lugli, Licia, Bertoncelli, Natascia, Spaggiari, Eugenio, Garetti, Elisabetta, Lucaccioni, Laura, Cipolli, Federica, Berardi, Alberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Birth weight
Cardiac arrhythmia
Clinical trials
Families & family life
Gestational age
Heart rate
Infants (Premature)
kangaroo care
Mothers
Newborn babies
Observational studies
Oxygen saturation
Parents & parenting
Physiological aspects
Physiology
Premature babies
preterm infant
Sepsis
Skin
skin-to-skin contact
Spectrum analysis
Statistical analysis
Systematic review
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Summary:Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is one of the four components of kangaroo care (KC) and is also a valued alternative to incubators in low-income countries. SSC has also become a standard of care in high-income countries because of its short- and long-term benefits and its positive effect on infant growth and neurodevelopmental outcome. However, barriers in the implementation of SSC, especially with preterm infants, are common in NICUs because parents and health care professionals can perceive it as potentially risky for the clinical stability of preterm infants. Previous studies have assessed safety before and during SSC by monitoring vital parameters during short-time intervals. To demonstrate the safety of early SSC in preterm infants during at least 90 min intervals. Prospective observational monocentric study. Preterm infants born between June 2018 and June 2020 with a gestational age of ≤33 weeks and a birth weight of 15 s), bradycardia (HR < 100, >15 s) and apneas (pause in breathing > 20 s associated with desaturation and/or bradycardia). A Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for the statistical analysis. In total, 83 episodes of SSC were analyzed for a total of 38 infants. The mean gestational age at birth was 29 weeks (range 23-33 weeks). Median PMA, days of life, and body weight at SSC were 31 weeks (range 25-34 weeks), 10 days (range 1-20 days), and 1131 g (range 631-2206 g), respectively. We found that 77% of infants were on respiratory support and 47% of them had a central venous catheter (umbilical or peripherally inserted central catheter) during SSC. The total duration of desaturation, bradycardia, and the number of apneas were not statistically different during the SSC session a
ISSN:2227-9067
2227-9067
DOI:10.3390/children10030570