Maternal Satisfaction and Experience with Skin to Skin Contact Immediately After Cesarean Birth: Implications for Practice

Objective: To describe the relationship of immediate skin to skin contact after cesarean birth on maternal satisfaction and patient experience.
Design: A descriptive design
Setting: A community hospital in southeastern US with approximately 4,000 deliveries per year.
Participants: Mothers between the ages of 18-44 who had delivered by cesarean section
Methods: The participants were asked to complete two questionnaires: the Modified QMAALD questionnaire to measure maternal satisfaction and the Picker Patient Questionnaire to measure patient experience. The questionnaires were completed 12-72 hours after giving birth. The scores were compared to the separation time between birth and first contact with mother.
Results: Thirty mothers completed both questionnaires. Women under 30 (66.6% versus 23.5%) felt their experience met their expectation for delivery and non-Caucasian women (72.8% versus 16.6%) felt more in control and a valued member of the team than Caucasian women and women over 30. There was no significant relationship found between separation time and scores.
Conclusion: While there was no significant relationship between separation time and higher scores, over 80% of mothers who experienced skin to skin contact after cesarean birth reported overall satisfaction and patient experience. Further research needs to be conducted to explore the relationship further in a different environment.