GOLD Lactation Conference News
What is Skin-to-Skin Contact (SSC)?
SSC is where the naked baby, sometimes with a nappy on or a cap on their head, is placed on the mother’s bare chest. Another term that is used for SSC, though mainly with preterm newborns is Kangaroo Care. Kangaroo’s grow their newborn joeys in their pouch where they have all they need in the pouch, warmth, familiarity and food. SSC provides all of this for human newborns. The mothers’ chest varies in temperature to maintain the newborns temperature, the baby can hear the familiar and calming heartbeat and voice of their mother and the baby has easy access to breast milk.
Why should health professionals offer SSC immediately after the caesarean birth of babies?
Research demonstrates many benefits to both the mother and the newborn if they have Skin-to-Skin Contact immediately after a normal birth.
Why would the benefits be any different after a caesarean section?
Research demonstrates some benefits of SSC immediately or soon after a caesarean section. Findings from the synthesis of existing literature demonstrate that the benefits include the maintenance of the baby’s temperature and increased bonding, parent/newborn communication, breastfeeding initiation and maternal satisfaction (Stevens, Schmied, Burns, & Dahlen, 2014). More research into this important area is needed however.
Women are increasingly asking not to be separated from their newborn and to have SSC soon after caesarean sections. There is also the emergence of women asking for “maternal assisted” caesarean sections, where they get to help lift their own baby out of their abdomen, and then place their baby directly onto their bare chest. The WHO and UNICEF recommend SSC after a caesarean section as soon as the mother is alert and responsive (Baby Friendly Health Initiative, 2012; World Health Organization & UNICEF, 2009). With an increased use of spinal and epidural anaesthesia women remain awake and alert during caesarean sections, therefore SSC should be provided immediately during the majority of caesarean sections. Women are increasingly requesting this care, and health professionals and institutions need to start providing this recommended care.
How do we provide SSC in the operating theatre?
It can be provided safely and immediately. This presentation will discuss the specifics of implementing SSC in the operating theatre. Implementation involves writing protocols with the collaboration of all relevant staff members, making sure that there are enough resources, preparing staff through education and support and educating women and their support people. Hints on how to provide SSC immediately in the operating theatre on the day will also be discussed.
Jeni Stevens will be delivering her presentation "How to facilitate immediate Skin-to-Skin post a Caesarean Section: Increasing Breastfeeding Success" for the upcoming GOLD Lactation Online Conference 2015. Learn more about Jeni Stevens' talk as well as the other 27 Speakers by clicking here.
Resources:
Baby Friendly Health Initiative. (2012). 10 steps to successful breastfeeding.
http://www.babyfriendly.org.au/about-bfhi/ten-steps-to-successful-breastfeeding/
Stevens, J., Schmied, V., Burns, E., & Dahlen, H. (2014). Immediate or early skin-to-skin contact after a Caesarean section: a review of the literature. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 10(4), 456-473. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12128
World Health Organization, & UNICEF. (2009). Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Revised updated and expanded for integrated care. Section 3: Breastfeeding promotion and support in a baby-friendly hospital: A 20-hour course for maternity staff.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241594981_eng.pdf
Happy IBCLC Day!
Category: ArticlesMarch 4, 2015 is IBCLC Day and here at GOLD Lactation, we're thrilled to be able to honour those individuals that help make a difference in the lives of breastfeeding mothers, babies and their families. Over the last couple weeks, IBCLC's and their friends have sent us pictures and comments about their fondest memories over the year and we've put a video together for you to enjoy and share with your colleges.
Additional, to further celebrate this day, we're offer a free CERP through our GOLD Learning Online Library! Originally presented during the GOLD Lactation Conference 2014, IBLCE Executive Director, Sara Lake, J.D., CAE and IBLCE Past Board Chair Rachelle Lessen, MS, RD, IBCLC provide us insight into how professional certification examinations are developed, what the process involves or how professional certification examinations differ from other types of examinations.
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Click Here to receive 1 Free CERP when you view "Demystifying Professional Certification Examination Development" by Sara Lake & Rachelle Lessen. Simply add the presentation to your cart and follow the steps to check out of the GOLD Learning Library. You will be able to view the presentation and generate a CERP certificate once complete.
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In honour of World Aids Day on December 1st, GOLD Conferences has teamed up with The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust
in order to globally share a recording of a GOLD Lactation Conference 2013 presentation on the subject of HIV & Breastfeeding. GOLD Lactation Speaker Pamela Morrison, IBCLC offers us invaluable insight on this topic with her presentation titled "Back to the Future on HIV and Breastfeeding: The findings that transformed policy"
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We invite you to view this presentation (below) and share this education with your colleagues.
~Pamela Morrison, IBCLC
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The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust establishes communications technologies that facilitate the flow of knowledge to rural low- middle-income families, delivering information to educate, motivate, empower and inspire communities around better health and nutrition practices. HealthPhone, one of the Trust's flagship initiatives, offers access to over 2,500 short educational health and nutrition videos, audio and text messages, in more than 75 languages and suitable for people who can't read. The videos are pre-loaded on a microSD memory card and inserted into basic mobile phones. The Trust has built a network of more than 20 websites that offer the knowledge mothers and fathers, teachers and students, doctors and village health workers, community leaders and the public need to know to keep children healthy, with a strong focus on promoting breastfeeding, safe motherhood & newborn health, preventing and treating diarrhoea, and improving water, sanitation and hygiene practices. The websites focused on breastfeeding, nutrition and growth, include Breast Crawl: Initiation of Breastfeeding, Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, HIV and Breastfeeding, and Mother, Infant and Young Child Nutrition and Malnutrition. IGUDU - Speak Better English
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