Effect of couplet care on early parent–infant closeness among preterm infants

Abstract

<div><h3>Aim</h3><p>To evaluate the effect of couplet care on parent–infant closeness among preterm infants.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>A comparison study in a Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before and after the introduction of couplet care, including stabilising infants in the delivery unit for early skin-to-skin contact, providing mothers' postpartum care in the infant's room and providing the father's bed in the infant's room. The study included parents of preterm infants born below 35 weeks.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>Parents of 40 and 66 infants were included before and after couplet care was introduced, respectively. In the linear regression model, the first skin-to-skin contact happened significantly earlier after the introduction than before: mean 4.0 vs. 24.0 h after birth and mean difference −18.5 (95% confidence interval −34.8 to −2.1). A larger proportion of infants received their first skin-to-skin contact within 2 h after birth after the introduction than before (45.5% vs. 8.6%; odds ratio 13.8 [3.6–62.8]). At least one parent was present in the infant's NICU room longer after the introduction than before (mean 21.2 vs. 10.8 h per day; mean difference 10.8 [9.1–12.4]).</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Couplet care significantly increased parent–infant closeness during the first weeks of life.<br></p></div>