The effect of skin-to-skin contact between father and premature infant on physiological indicators of premature infants

Introduction: Premature infants, due to the lack of development of various body systems, face numerous challenges that require specialized and careful care. Among the important challenges in caring for these infants are regulating body temperature and managing physiological stress. In recent years, skin-to-skin contact between fathers and premature infants has received increasing attention on the physiological indicators of premature infants. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of skin-to-skin contact between fathers and premature infants on the physiological indicators of premature infants. Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial with two experimental and control groups. ۷۰ fathers of infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit were included in the study and were randomly assigned to two intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, fathers had skin-to-skin contact with their infants for forty minutes. The infant's physiological symptoms were measured before and after the intervention. Findings: The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean respiratory rate of the intervention group and the control group (p۰.۰۰۱). There was also a statistically significant difference between the mean temperature changes of the two groups (p۰.۰۰۱). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that skin-to-skin contact between the father and the premature infant is an effective and natural strategy for improving the health and well-being of premature infants.

Keywords:

Skin-to-skin contact , physiological indicators , premature infant