The process of labor and birth is complicated and may be developed in a variety of ways to influence the quality of life of a mother, as well as a child. It is not enough to follow special guidelines and understand the main precautionary techniques of obstetrics. It is necessary to consider the conditions under which the waters have broken, the type and timing of pushing, and even the way of how a mother should breathe (Lemos et al., 2017). There are many questions the answers to which are important for mothers and nurses. Therefore, a systematic review on the topic connected with such concepts as obstetrics, laboring, or post-birth recovery has to be properly explained and developed. It is necessary to understand what kind of work has to be done, what sources are appropriate, and what methods of data gathering are acceptable. The identification of an issue for clinical practice is a serious step that has to be taken by every researcher regarding their personal interests, writing skills, critical thinking, and expected outcomes.
In this capstone project, I am going to work with an article written by Moore, Bergman, Anderson, and Medley (2016) “Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants”. The authors state that mother-infant separation is a common and serious aspect in many Western cultures. There is a thought that an intimate contact between a mother and an infant right after a child birth may evoke certain neurobehaviors with the help of which it is possible to fulfill basic biological needs of a mother and an infant (Moore et al., 2016). In fact, people define many reasons for why this kind of contact is beneficial, and I would like to identify these benefits answering the following PICOT question in my project:
Would early skin-to-skin contact between a mother and an infant compared to professional wrapping and cleaning positively affect a breastfeeding process during the first two months after birth?
P (population) – “a mother and an infant after birth”;
I (intervention) – “early skin-to-skin contact”;
C (comparison) – “professional wrapping and cleaning”;
O (outcome) – “positively affect a breastfeeding process”;
T (time frame) – “during the first two months after birth”.
As a staff nurse in a general hospital, I have a chance to observe different cases of laboring and birth-giving processes. Some mothers want to follow a number of special traditions and guidelines to make sure they create the best conditions for their children. There are also the mothers who believe that parturition is another treatment process that has to be taken. However, in the majority of cases, women believe that their skin-to-skin contact with their babies is an integral part of a birth-giving process. In addition to the fact that many people believe in the power and the benefits of this contact, I want to have enough background information and explanations of why early skin-to-skin contact should not be ignored.
Newborns and their mothers have to face with a number of physical, psychological, and emotional challenges (Srivastava, Gupta, Bhatnagar, & Dutta, 2014). Breastfeeding is an important activity that may influence babies and their mothers in different ways. There are many investigations that prove the importance of skin-to-skin contact for breastfeeding. Still, there is a gap between the already proved biological and chemical reactions of the body and the worth of emotional and psychological challenges. Therefore, it is necessary for nurses to know why breastfeeding should be chosen by mothers and how skin-to-skin contact may contribute this process. This project should help to find the answer to the chosen research question and define the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the process of stabilization of an infant and a mother.
References
Lemos, A., Amorim, M.M., Dornelas de Andrade, A., Souza, A.I., Filho, J.E.C., & Correia, J.B. (2017). Pushing/bearing down methods for the second stage of labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(3). Web.
Moore, E.R., Bergman, N., Anderson, G.C., & Medley, N. (2016). Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2016(11). Web.
Srivastava, S., Gupta, A., Bhatnagar, A., & Dutta, S. (2014). Effect of very early skin to skin contact on success at breastfeeding and preventing early hypothermia in neonates. Indian Journal of Public Health, 58(1), 22-26.