Step 4 Standards
- All mothers should be given their baby to hold with skin-to-skin contact in an unhurried environment for an unlimited period as soon as possible after delivery.
- All mothers should be given support and encouragement to initiate a first breastfeed when their baby shows signs of readiness to feed.
Criteria measured at each stage of the assessment process for Step 4
Requirements at Stage 3:
- All mothers to confirm that they were given the opportunity to hold their baby in skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible after birth.
- All mothers to confirm that they were able to hold their baby in skin contact for at least one hour or until after the first breastfeed.
- All mothers to confirm that they were offered offered support and encouragement to initiate breastfeeding during this time.
NB: Mothers may choose not to hold their baby with skin contact or may want to end the period of skin contact after less than an hour. There may also be clinical reasons why mothers or babies are not able to have skin contact in the immediate postnatal period. It is the trust’s responsibility to ensure that mothers and babies are encouraged to have skin contact in an unhurried environment when they are able and that any decision not to do this is made after being fully informed of the benefits of skin contact.
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