Midwifes’ Opinions about Reinforcing Factors in Skin to Skin Contact, Immediately After Delivery: A Descriptive Study

Aim: Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact (SSC) between mother and her newborn, specifically when it is conducted immediately after birth, have been recognized for more than 40 years. To determine why SSC is not conducted, the present study considers the opinions of the labor working midwifes about the reinforcing factors in SSC immediately after birth in Tehranʹs hospitals in 2012-2013. Methods: In this descriptive study, we have employed the reinforcing factors of the phase 3 of PRECEDE-PROCEED model. The samples consisted of 292 midwifes who were responsible for delivery or for newborns immediately after birth in 18 hospitals of Tehran. The sampling was firstly performed using stratified and then simple random manner. They were classified into educational, social security, and private hospitals. Data collection instrument was a self-developed questionnaire consisting of demographic characteristics, social support and midwifesʹ motivation to conduct the reinforcing factors in the SCC at birth. It was derived from a qualitative study. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbachʹs alpha coefficient. Data analysis was conducted through applying the SPSS version 18. Findings: The results show that 93.8% of midwifes had a good idea about social support of the midwifes with Cronbachʹs alpha 0.744 and 96.6% of them believed in the Midwifes ʹ motivation in skin contact effects with Cronbachʹs 0.773. Conclusions: The midwives believed in the key role of reinforcing factors such as social support and their own motivation in successful and standard SSC. Therefore, further studies are suggested on exploring the opinions of pediatric, obstetrics and anesthesia specialists, midwives, mothers and their husbands concerning the SSC.