Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan 24:8.
doi: 10.18332/ejm/176213. eCollection 2024.

The effect of early skin-to-skin contact after cesarean section on breastfeeding duration and development of atopic-allergic diseases

Yvonne Stephan  1   2 , Hans-Helge Müller  1 , Maritta Kühnert  3 , Ivo Meinhold-Heerlein  4 , Gentiana Ibrahimi  4 , Maleen Reitz  4 , Hannah Schemmann  1 , Frank Oehmke  4 , Siegmund Köhler  3 , Harald Renz  1
Affiliations

The effect of early skin-to-skin contact after cesarean section on breastfeeding duration and development of atopic-allergic diseases

Yvonne Stephan et al. Eur J Midwifery. .

Abstract

Introduction: Breastfeeding to strengthen the immune system suggests allergy prevention as a possible option. The connection between breastfeeding and the development of atopic-allergic diseases is being discussed. The primary aim of this work was to investigate an association of the first early skin-to-skin contact following cesarean section with the development of atopic diseases within the 1st year of life.

Methods: The present study was conducted as a bicentric prospective cohort study in central Germany with a 15-month recruitment period. Data collection was by telephone interviews with a follow-up of 12 months. The statistical evaluation procedure was based on a hierarchical test of the association of early skin-to-skin contact between mother and child with the two main outcome measures. The primary outcome is the duration of breastfeeding. The second outcome is the onset of atopic-allergic disease within the 1st year of life.

Results: Mothers breastfed longer if they had skin-to-skin contact within the first 30 minutes postpartum [χ²(df=5) = 19.020, p=0.002], if they breastfed their newborns early immediately after birth (p<0.001), and if the first skin-to-skin contact lasted more than one hour [χ²(df=4) = 19.617, p<0.001]. Regarding atopic-allergic diseases, no significant effects of skin-to-skin contact were found in relation to disease development. Regarding breastfeeding, no significant effects of atopic-allergic diseases could be detected either.

Conclusions: The results of this study reflect the benefits of skin-to-skin contact in the context of breastfeeding and atopic disease. The current scientific knowledge regarding skin contact and the development of atopic-allergic diseases should be extended and deepened.

Keywords: atopic dermatitis; atopic-allergic diseases; breastfeeding; cesarean section; skin contact; skin-to-skin contact.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association of the different components of this study
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flowchart shows how the study population developed at the individual measurement times
Figure 3
Figure 3
Breastfeeding duration: time at which the mother partially breastfeeds the infant (censored variable) as a function of skin-to-skin contact (categorical variable)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Breastfeeding duration: time when the mother partially breastfeeds the infant, depending on the duration of skin-to-skin contact
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Evans KC, Evans RG, Royal R, Esterman AJ, James SL. Effect of caesarean section on breast milk transfer to the normal term newborn over the first week of life. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2003;88(5):F380-F382. doi:10.1136/fn.88.5.f380 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kopp MV, Muche-Borowski C, Abou-Dakn M, et al. . S3 guideline Allergy Prevention. Allergol Select. 2022;6:61-97. doi:10.5414/ALX02303E - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Biedermann T, Heppt W, Renz H, Röcken M, eds. Allergologie. 2. Auflage. Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 2016.
    1. Madhok V, Futamura M, Thomas KS, Barbarot S. What’s new in atopic eczema? An analysis of systematic reviews published in 2012 and 2013. Part 1. Epidemiology, mechanisms of disease and methodological issues. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2015;40(3):238-242. doi:10.1111/ced.12578 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Madhok V, Futamura M, Thomas KS, Barbarot S. What’s new in atopic eczema? An analysis of systematic reviews published in 2012 and 2013. Part 2. Treatment and prevention. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2015;40(4):349-355. doi:10.1111/ced.12591 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources