Effectiveness and feasibility of early essential newborn care during term cesarean section

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of early essential newborn care (EENC) on short-term maternal and neonatal health and to evaluate the satisfaction and acceptability of both patients and medical staff in the operating room regarding the implementation of EENC during term cesarean section(CS). Methods Two hundred gravidas who underwent CS in Wenzhou Medical University Affiliated Women and Children Hospital from January 2018 to April 2018 were recruited in this prospective study. According to the odd or even number of their medical records, these women were randomly divided into EENC or control group, 100 in each. EENC was offered to those in the EENC group immediately after birth, including drying the newborn immediately and thoroughly, mother–infant skin-to-skin contact at least 90 min and initiating the first breastfeeding, and delayed cord clamping until l-3 min after birth. Routine neonatal care was provided to the control group, including regular drying, insufficient skin-to-skin contact and cord clamping within 1 min after birth. Differences were compared between the two groups in the incidence of abnormal pulse, low oxygen saturation, hypothermia and mild asphyxia from the neonatal aspect and the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage and early initiation of breastfeeding from the maternal aspect. The acceptability and satisfaction of all the participants and the medical staff were also analyzed. t-test and Chi-square test were used as statistical methods. Results All of the 200 participants were finally analyzed. In the EENC group, the incidence of neonatal hypothermia [2% (2/100) vs 13% (13/100), χ2=8.721, P=0.003] and maternal postpartum hemorrhage [1% (1/100) vs 6% (6/100), χ2=5.701, P=0.035] were lower comparing to the control group, while the initiation rate of early breastfeeding was higher [56% (56/100) vs 5% (5/100), χ2=61.352, P 0.05). The scores of maternal satisfaction (24.6±0.4 vs 23.4±1.9, t=6.443, P=0.001) and acceptability (24.3±0.5 vs 23.5±1.4, t=5.436, P=0.001) in the EENC group were also significantly higher than those in the control. For the obstetric operation team, the acceptability scores among obstetricians (22.6±0.8 vs 21.6±1.3, t=2.379, P=0.019), instrument nurses (23.2±0.9 vs 21.3±1.1, t=13.592, P<0.001) and anesthetists (22.6±0.9 vs 21.5±1.7, t=5.625, P=0.001) in the EENC group were higher than those in the control group. However, no significant difference was observed in the acceptability among rounding nurses between the two groups (P=0.086). Conclusions EENC during CS could stabilize the neonatal temperature, reduce postpartum hemorrhage, promote early breastfeeding and improve the maternal satisfaction as well as the acceptability of both obstetric operation team and puerperae. There is a clinical significance to promote EENC during CS. Key words: Cesarean section; Maternal-child nursing; Neonatal nursing; Feasibility studies