Skin To Skin Contact Essay

I. Purpose:
• To understand the benefits of the skin-to-skin contact for preterm and full-term infants
• To empower the parents and allow them to safely perform skin to skin contact, including transfer and proper positioning of the neonate to promote comfort

II. Objectives:
• List the benefits of skin to skin contact between the infant and parents/other caregivers.
• Demonstrate/ return demonstrate on how to safely perform skin to skin contact.
• List the desired outcome of skin to skin contact
III. Content outline form:

Why skin to skin contact is important?

¥ Skin to Skin Contact is an effective means to improve thermoregulation in premature and full-term infants and to promote bonding between the infant and parents/other caregivers.
¥ Additional
• To regulate the infant’s body temperature, promote physical health, and facilitate bonding

Procedures

¥ Instruct the parent to put on a shirt that opens in the front, and ask him/her to remove any layers of clothing underneath, including a bra or undershirt
¥ Assist the parent into a comfortable, semi-reclined position in a bed or chair that is positioned close enough to the infant’s incubator or crib to prevent tension on invasive lines or tubes, if present
¥ Secure or disconnect tubes or invasive lines, as appropriate
¥ Gently transfer the infant to the parent’s chest. This can be accomplished using
¬ a standing, parent-assisted method in which the infant is gently lifted and placed on the parent’s chest and the caregiver is guided to the chair or bed
¬ a sitting, nurse-assisted method in which the parent is seated in the chair or on the bed and the neonate is gently placed on the parent’s chest
¥ Help the parent position the infant such that the infant’s bare chest is against the parent’s chest
¥ Confirm that the full ventral surface of the infant is in skin-to-skin contact with the parent and that the infant’s legs and arms are in a flexed