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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Neonatology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1577094
The Impact of Mother-Infant Rooming-In and Continuous Skin-to-Skin Contact on Newborns
Provisionally accepted- 1 C.N. Maternity & Infant Health Hospital, shanghai, China
- 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
Background: Mother-infant skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is a key component of Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC), recommended by the World Health Organization to improve neonatal outcomes. Despite its global adoption, SSC implementation in China remains inconsistent.Objective: To explore the effects of mother-infant rooming-in and continuous SSC on newborn weight, breastfeeding rates, and the use of medications for jaundice.Methods: A total of 2205 women who delivered at Shanghai Changning District Maternal and Child Health Hospital between January and December 2022, including a routine rooming-in care group (1120 cases) and an rooming-in with continuous SSC group (1085 cases) retrospectively collected from medical records. Both groups of newborns received early essential neonatal care within 90 minutes of birth, followed by rooming-in with their mothers. Newborns in the routine rooming-in care group received routine rooming-in care, while those in the rooming-in with continuous SSC group were also subjected to continuous SSC with their mothers. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the birth weight between the two groups (P > 0.05). The weight loss after birth, comparing 7% and 9% weight loss, was lower in the rooming-in with continuous SSC group than in the routine rooming-in care group (P < 0.05), with a statistically significant difference. The breastfeeding rate in the rooming-in with continuous SSC group was higher than that in the routine rooming-in care group (P < 0.05), showing a statistically significant difference. The use of jaundice medication in rooming-in with continuous SSC group was lower than in the routine rooming-in care group (P < 0.05), with a statistically significant difference. Multivariate analysis of newborn weight loss greater than 7% revealed that cesarean delivery was a risk factor for excessive weight loss. Multivariate analysis of weight loss greater than 9% indicated that continuous SSC was a protective factor, while mixed feeding was a risk factor. Multivariate analysis of jaundice medication use showed that cesarean delivery and mixed feeding were risk factors, while previous deliveries and SSC were protective factors.Conclusion: Mother-infant rooming-in with continuous SSC promotes appropriate weight gain in newborns, increases breastfeeding rates, and reduces the need for jaundice medication.
Keywords: Mother-infant rooming-in, Skin-to-skin contact, Physiological weight loss in newborns, breastfeeding, neonatal jaundice
Received: 15 Feb 2025; Accepted: 04 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chu, Ye, Chen, Dang, Lu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qiaozhen Lu, C.N. Maternity & Infant Health Hospital, shanghai, China
Lingling Li, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
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