Effects of Using Early Bonding and Initial Breastfeeding in Labour Room, Ramathibodi Hospital

Yoorat, Yingkwan

Background: Breast milk is recognized as nutrition for infants with health benefits for both child and mother. Promoting the early initiation of breastfeeding by skin to skin contact between mother and newborn after birth increases the rate and duration of breastfeeding. Therefore, promoting the early initiation of breastfeeding is important. Thus, obstetrician and nurse-midwives need to realize about those obstacles and help a mother to initiate her breastfeeding right away after delivery or within half an hour after dilivery according to the 4th step of successful breastfeeding breastfeeding by World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the rate, duration of promoting early bonding and baby breast crawl behavior and the outcome of early initial breastfeeding stimulation.

Design: A prospective cohort study design.

Methods: The study samples consisted of 1,475 mothers and their newborns of non-complicated parturients (37-40 weeks gestation) with spontaneous vaginal delivery and healthy infants in the labour room, Ramathibodi Hospital. Who received usual care during January-December 2011. Data were collected from the breastfeeding record in labour room and the client’s medical records (controlling for delivery hospital). Data were analyzed by using frequency and percentage.

Results: The results showed that 49.4 percent of the samples were promoted. Only 2.33 percent were promoted for 20 minutes or longer and 0.96 percent of the babies had baby breast crawl. 93.14 percent of the promoted had successfully begun initial breastfeeding, newborn's success to hold nipple in mouth and sucking. This study shows that the intervention promoting early bonding and duration of promoting early bonding are less than 50 percent.

Conclusions: The findings from this study can be used as basic information for further investigation of causes and factors which are barriers to early bonding promotion before proper intervention will be developed. This practice is important because it can help the mother to continue her successfully breastfeeding during the postpartum period.