Immediate skin-to-skin contact at very preterm birth and effect on infant socio-emotional stress response and mother-infant cortisol co-regulation: secondary outcomes from the randomised clinical Immediate Parent-Infant Skin-To-Skin Study (IPISTOSS).

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore the effects of immediate parent-infant skin-to-skin contact (iSSC) at very preterm birth on maternal-infant behavioural responses and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to age-appropriate socio-emotional stress at 4 months corrected age.

Design

Two secondary outcomes from a multicentre randomised controlled trial with two non-blinded parallel groups.

Setting

Three Scandinavian neonatal intensive care units, level 2 and level 3.

Participants

91 infants born at gestational age 28+0 to 32+6 from April 2018 to June 2021. Singletons and twins with a second caregiver present were included, regardless of mode of birth. Higher-order births, infants with congenital infections and major malformations were excluded.

Intervention</

SUBMITTER: Lode-Kolz K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12911832 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature