Medical Xpress May 3, 2025
Researchers led by the Trondheim University Hospital in Norway report that two hours of immediate skin-to-skin contact between mothers and very preterm infants after birth does not improve cognitive, motor, or language development by age 2 to 3 years. Infants receiving the intervention did show significantly improved breastfeeding outcomes.
Very preterm infants born between 28 and 31 weeks of gestation are at increased risk for long-term impairments, including cerebral palsy, cognitive and language delays, psychiatric conditions, and visual or hearing deficits.
The World Health Organization advocates early maternal-infant skin-to-skin contact (SSC) as a potentially protective intervention based on previous evidence indicating improved thermoregulation, reduced infant mortality and improved physiological stability.
In the study, “Immediate Skin-to-Skin Contact in Very Preterm Neonates...
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