[Skin-to-skin care in the delivery room: impact of SpO2 monitoring]

Background: Skin-to-skin care in the delivery room increases mother-newborn bonding, reduces the newborn's stress level, and facilitates breastfeeding. However, a few reports of life-threatening events in newborn infants during skin-to-skin care have prompted suggestions that SpO2 monitoring may be of value in the delivery room. The present study compared SpO2 monitoring with standard clinical practices during skin-to-skin care in the delivery room. The midwife's opinion and the mother's anxiety level were assessed for both procedures.

Materials and methods: The midwife's opinion was measured on a Likert scale and the mother's anxiety level was measured on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y-A and Y-B scales. Two procedures (standard clinical practice vs. SpO2 monitoring) were compared prospectively in two consecutive 3-month periods.

Results: Seventy case report forms were completed for the "standard clinical practice" group and 62 were completed for the "SpO2 monitoring" group. The care procedure was considered to be satisfactory or quite satisfactory in 60 cases (96.8%) in the "SpO2 monitoring" group and in 57 cases (81.4%; P<0.05) in the "standard clinical practice" group. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the mean maternal anxiety level.

Conclusion: SpO2 monitoring during skin-to-skin care in the delivery room was well accepted by the midwife. Relative to standard clinical practice alone, SpO2 monitoring was not associated with elevated maternal anxiety levels.