Effect of Skin-to-skin Contact on Interaction and Parents' Sleep

Effect of Skin-to-skin Contact on Interaction and Parents' Sleep

This study evaluates the effect of a late intervention of continuous skin-to-skin contact (SSC) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Half of the participants will receive the intervention and the other half will receive standard care.

The intervention is based on a method developed to facilitate closeness and human touch between parents and preterm infants in neonatal intensive care. Continuous skin-to-skin contact (SSC) means, in this study, that the late preterm infant is cared for skin-to-skin on the parents' chest, instead of in a heating-bed, 24 hours a day. The parents will take turns to care for the infant in SSC.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parents staying at the NICU with a single preterm infant born <33 weeks of gestation
• The family should have been transferred to family-room from intensive care
• Swedish speaking parents

Exclusion Criteria:

• Infants with major congenital malformation,
• Infants with intraventricular hemorrhage grade III-IV
• Infants with chromosome defect that could affect the infant´s ability to interact.
• Parents with sleeping disorder
• Parents with psychiatric problem or drug use.