Abstract:Background: Maternal postnatal attachment is critical for infant development. Studies have shown that SSC beyond EINC increases maternal responsiveness (Potgieter and Adams, 2019), instinctive maternal behaviors, and psychological well-being (Feng and Zhang, 2023) as it provides more opportunities to focus on their newborns. This highlights SSC’s role in establishing the foundation for future mother child relationships. This study aims to determine the effects of daily structured, uninterrupted one-hour SSC on maternal attachment towards their newborn, highlighting their emotional bonding. Method: A quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest nonequivalent group was utilized. Sample size (n=110) was based on G*Power for a medium effect size, with 55 targeted participants per group. Participants were selected via convenience sampling. Inclusion criteria included at least 20 years old, literate, with healthy full-term newborns, no delivery complications, and living with a relative. Exclusion criteria included mother-infant perinatal complications, with toddlers, and residing outside Metro Manila. The Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS) was used, with 8 adjectives rated on a 4-point Likert scale, wherein lower scores indicate stronger bonding. Results: A t-test analysis revealed significantly decreased scores of both intervention (2.8 to 0.93) and control groups (3.13 to 1.83), suggesting improved attachment. An item-level analysis of each adjective revealed no significant changes in the items “Loving” and “Joyful”. “Resentful” and “Dislike” significantly improved although the control group showed greater decline in “Resentful” and the intervention group in “Dislike”. Only the control group had a significant decrease for “Neutral or felt nothing” while only the intervention group had a significant decrease in “Protective” and “Disappointed”. Although scores for “Aggressive” significantly declined in both, the intervention group had a greater decrease. Conclusion: Structured SSC demonstrated potential in enhancing maternal attachment by reducing negative responses and promoting protectiveness, remaining a valuable adjunct for fostering maternal-infant bonding.
Keywords: Global Health Education and Technology, Skin-to-skin contact (SSC), Structured SSC, Maternal Postnatal Attachment, Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale, Early Postnatal Period
