Effect of early skin to skin contact activity between mother and baby undergoing cesarean section on infant suckling performance and mother-infant bond. Health Promoting Hospital, Health Center 1 Chiang Mai

Abstract

Currently, only 14 percent of children aged 0-6 months in Thailand receive breast milk, which is lower than the 50 percent target set in 2025. Early skin-to-skin contact activities help enhance breastfeeding success by encouraging infants to suckle from their mothers within the first half hour after birth. This quasi-experimental research aimed to compare the efficiency of breastfeeding and mother-infant bonding between the groups participating in the Early skin-to-skin contact activity in the operating room. The sample group in the study consisted of 52 pairs of pregnant women and term infants at the Health Promotion Hospital, Health Center 1, Chiang Mai, divided into the experimental group, 26 pairs performing activities in the operating room, and the control group, 26 pairs perform recovery room activities as per normal service. The research instruments were the Early skin-to-skin contact practice, the breastfeeding assessment form, and the mother-infant bonding questionnaire. The instruments were validated by experts and had a concordance index of 0.67, and a Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient of 0.92.

The results of the study found that: The experimental group's suckling efficiency score (9.88) was significantly higher than that of the control group (8.81). Similarly, the mother-infant bonding score in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group at an average of 3.36, which was 2.97. The results indicated that Early skin-to-skin contact activities promoted suckling efficiency and bonding, demonstrating the importance of implementing them in the operating room to support breastfeeding and build mother-infant bonding.