Mother and baby skin-to-skin bonding rates improve at Shropshire trust
Nearly all mothers giving birth at a Shropshire hospital trust's maternity units have had skin-to-skin bonding with their newborn babies since April, new figures show.
The situation at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has improved on the year beforehand.
NHS data revealed more than a fifth of mothers giving birth under the care of SaTH missed out on skin-to-skin contact within an hour of delivery in 2017/18.
Immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby has "lasting benefits" for both, according to experts, including protecting babies from infection and encouraging them to breastfeed.
In 2017/18, 4,380 mothers gave birth at the trust .
Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals recorded data for 4,075 mothers, excluding those who had premature babies born before 37 weeks – 21 per cent did not have skin-to-skin contact with their babies within an hour of delivery.
But since April, 2,327 out of 2,334 mothers who have had babies at SaTH have enjoyed this important bonding time.
Matron Jill Whitaker said: “We are very proud that we are supporting new mothers to have skin-to-skin contact with their newborn babies.
“At such an important time in their lives we want to ensure new mothers and their partners feel confident and empowered, and are always looking at ways we can improve and enhance the care our parents receive.
“Occasionally it is not possible for a mum to have skin-to-skin contact within the first hour – and we also have to respect women’s choices – but we are always very clear about the benefits of skin-to-skin contact.
“Last year we were at or about the national average, but we want to be much better than average so we developed a plan to, when appropriate, initiate skin-to-skin contact after a caesarean section to improve the outcome for mother and baby.
“During antenatal classes, we talk a lot about the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and it is now something that most parents expect as part of their birth experience.”
The Royal College of Midwives said that maternity wards should "make every possible effort for all babies to have skin-to-skin contact with their mothers within one hour of birth".
The process involves putting the newborn baby on its mother's bare chest and covering both with a warm blanket.
This encourages the baby's natural instinct to breastfeed.
The first breastfeed is particularly important for babies because it contains colostrum, nicknamed "liquid gold".
Fran Bailey, a breastfeeding counsellor at parents' charity the National Childbirth Trust, said: "Colostrum is like breast milk, but much thicker and creamier.
"We call it 'baby's first immunisation', because it's rammed full of antibodies. There's only around 5ml of it, a tiny amount, but it's really good for helping to protect babies' tummies."
