Newborn infants who received skin‐to‐skin contact with fathers after Caesarean sections showed stable physiological patterns

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AYALA 
et

AL
.
that newborn infants have greater cardio-respiratory stability than 
controls.
12
A randomised controlled trial showed that infants who had 
skin-to-skin contact with their mothers had a higher body and skin 
temperature than infants who were carefully wrapped, swaddled or 
dressed, but did not have skin-to-skin contact.
13
Another study also 
found that paternal substitutes were as successful as incubator care 
with regard to the positive effect on the infant's body temperature 
after Caesarean birth.
10
A study of full-term, healthy infants found that 
skin-to-skin contact was associated with more rapid metabolic adjust-
ment and higher levels of blood glucose than conventional cot care.
8
In 
that study, body temperature was maintained and stress was reduced 
in newborn infants who experienced skin-to-skin care, indicating that 
this practice was superior to cot care.
8
Skin-to-skin contact with moth-
ers or fathers immediately after an elective Caesarean section has 
been reported by some researchers to promote parent-infant commu-
nication and interaction.
7,11
The aim of this study was to compare the 
effect of three caregiving models on the wakefulness and physiological 
parameters of full-term infants after a Caesarean section.
The hypothesis was that oxygen saturation, temperature, heart 
rate and wakefulness could be used as measures of the well-being 
of newborn infants who received skin-to-skin contact with their fa-
thers. This form of contact was compared with being cared for in 
their fathers' arms or placed in a cot.
2 | METHODS AND MATERIAL
A randomised control design was used to assess the effects of three 
caring models on newborn full-term infants after a Caesarean section. 
The study took place in Chile from 2009 to 2012 at a general public 
hospital that performed around 9000 deliveries per year. At the time 
of the study, fathers were not allowed to be present during surgery or 
in the post-anaesthesia care unit, where their partners were recover-
ing. The mothers were then transferred to the post-surgery unit for 
observation, and their infants were taken to the neonatal unit.
The study comprised healthy mothers who had an uncomplicated 
elective Caesarean section using epidural anaesthesia. Some had 
surgery due to previous Caesarean sections, and some requested 
the procedure.
The newborn infants were included if they had a gestational age of 
between 37 and 42 weeks and an Apgar score of more than seven at 
one and five minutes. If the infants were deemed to be healthy at the 
first check-up 30 minutes after birth, with a temperature of ≥36.6°C, 
they were included in the study and randomised to one of the three 
caregiving groups. The inclusion criteria for the fathers were that they 
had expressed their wish to take part in the study and to take care of 
the infant while they were separated from their mother after surgery.