title: [Breast feeding in premature babies: development-centered care in Palestine].
abstract: In addition to its important role in the initiation of breastfeeding, early skin-to-skin contact benefits both mothers and their babies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To inform all mothers of premature babies about the importance of skin-to-skin contact and breast-feeding in order to foment a closer bond between mother and child (development-centered care).
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study was conducted in various hospitals on the West Bank in Palestine during 2008-2011. The universe was made up of an estimated average of 2,500 childbirths per year in each hospital. All of the subjects in the sample population of n = 252 babies had a gestational age of less than 37 GWs, and had weighed less than 2,500 grams at birth. For health reasons, they were hospitalized in neonatal care units.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results obtained showed that in Palestine, young women tend to breastfeed their babies and have skin-to-skin contact with them more often than older mothers. Once the new mothers were informed of the advantages of these practices, they showed greater interest in learning how to care for their babies in the neonatal care units.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breastfeeding premature babies as well as having skin-to-skin contact with them was made possible by informing and teaching new mothers about the advantages of this type of infant care. This research has had widespread impact and has been very well received by the female population in the country. This is the first study of its kind to be carried out in Palestine.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Granada, Granada, España. mariajaguilar@telefonica.net
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aguilar Cordero
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Batran Ahmed
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Padilla López
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guisado Barrilao
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gómez García
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001942:Breast Feeding; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D008877:Middle East; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult