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Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 1989 35(6):321-326; doi:10.1093/tropej/35.6.321
© 1989 by Oxford University Press
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research-article

Skin-to-skin Contact as a Method of Body Warmth for Infants of Low Birth Weight

R. P. Mondlane*, A. M. P. de Graca* and G. J. Ebrahim**

*Central Hospital Maputo, Mozambique
**Tropical Child Health Unit, Institute of Child Health London

Skin-to-skin mother/infant contact as a means of warmth for newborns of low birth weight (≤ 2500 g) was studied in 132 infants admitted consecutively during the cold season July/September at the Central Hospital in Maputo. The mean (±SD) birth weight was 1788g (±304g) and the gestational age 34 weeks (± 2.7). Fifty-seven (43 per cent) infants were born outside the hospital and were referred. The ambient temperature ranged from <22°C to 32°C. Skin-to-skin contact as the principal means of warmth commenced in more than a third by age 3 days and in more than a half by age 5 days after periods of observation to exclude clinical problems. The infants were kept warm using conventional methods during observation. Re-admission to the intensive care unit was required in nine cases: four for diarrhoea; two for respiratory infection; two with jaundice; and one for poor suckling. Infants were discharged home at a mean (± SD) weight of 1864 g (±227), and age 15.6 d (± 7.9). Skin-to-skin contact, either by itself or in combination with other methods of warmth, was reportedly followed at home by 67 per cent of the mothers who received home visits. No infant needed readmission for hypothermia either from the neonatal wards or after being discharged home.

At follow-up, when body weight had reached ≥2500 g, the outcome was graded as ‘good’ in 64; ‘satisfactory’ in 6; and ‘poor’ in 4. Two infants died in toe hospital, one mother discharged herself, and 14 were lost to follow-up being resident in rural areas. At the termination of the study, two infants were still in the neonatal ward and the remaining 39 had yet to make a follow-up visit though discharged from hospital and progressing well at home visits.

Skin-to-skin contact as a means of warmth is a promising technique, especially in countries with poor resources.


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