Perception, Attitude, Barriers, And Implementation Of Skin-To-Skin Contact Among Primiparous Mothers In Aba, Nigeria.

Background: Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is one of the simplest yet most effective practices involving newborns whereby the newborn is positioned on the chest of the mother skin-to-skin without clothes shortly after birth. This helps in maintaining the body temperature of babies, early breast-feeding of infants, and also helps the mother-baby bonding process. Even though the benefits associated with this practice have been discovered over a period of time, this is practiced sparingly by developing countries, including Nigeria, due to factors such as institutional routine, poor antenatal education, and lack of privacy, among others. Methods: Mixed methods research design was adopted. For the collection of quantitative data, questionnaires were administered to 100 mothers, while qualitative data were collected from 22 mothers using semi-structured interviews until saturation was attained. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, while qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The ethical approval for the study was provided by the Ethics Review Board, University of Port Harcourt. Results: Just 18% of the mothers engaged in SSC right after delivery. Nonetheless, most of the mothers had sufficient awareness about the technique (mean = 14.43; SD = 1.43) and a positive attitude toward SSC (77%). There was a significant positive correlation between perception and attitude toward SSC (r = 0.482; p < 0.05). There was also a significant correlation between perception, attitude, and barriers to performing SSC. Conclusion: Although first-time mothers recognize the significance of SSC and accept it, it remains underused due to structural challenges. More attention must be focused on education, healthcare, and hospital systems. Evidence-based hospital policies and better healthcare practitioner support can lead to the increased adoption of SSC by first-time mothers.