Skin-to-skin contact may reduce negative consequences of "the stress of being born": a study on temperature in newborn infants, subjected to different ward routines in St. Petersburg.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate how different delivery-ward routines influence temperature in newborn infants.


METHODS
A total of 176 newborn mother-infant pairs were included in a randomized study. The babies were kept skin-to-skin on the mother's chest (Skin-to-skin group), held in their mother's arms, being either swaddled or clothed (Mother's arms group), or kept in a cot in the nursery, being either swaddled or clothed (Nursery group). Temperature was measured in the axilla, on the thigh, back and foot at 15-min intervals at from 30 to 120 min after birth.


RESULTS
During this time period the axilla, back and thigh temperatures rose significantly in all the treatment groups. The foot temperature displayed a significant fall in the babies in the Nursery group and this decrease was greatest in the swaddled babies. In contrast, foot temperature rose in the babies in the Mother's arms group and in particular in babies in the Skin-to-skin group. Foot temperature remained high in the Skin-to-skin group, whereas the low temperature observed in the Nursery group gradually increased and two days after birth the difference was no longer significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The results show that delivery-ward routines influence skin temperature in infants in the postnatal period. Allowing mother and baby the ward routine of skin-to-skin contact after birth may be a "natural way" of reversing stress-related effects on circulation induced during labour.
Department of Hospital Paediatrics, St. Petersburg State Paediatric Medical Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia.
K
K
Bystrova
A M
AM
Widström
A S
AS
Matthiesen
A B
AB
Ransjö-Arvidson
B
B
Welles-Nyström
C
C
Wassberg
I
I
Vorontsov
K
K
Uvnäs-Moberg
D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009775:Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036801:Parturition / Q000502:physiology*; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012426:Russia; D012867:Skin / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*