Inpatient Skin-to-Skin Care Predicts 12-month Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Very Preterm Infants.

To examine the relationship between inpatient skin-to-skin care rates and neurodevelopmental scores measured at 12 months in very preterm infants. From a retrospective review of medical records of 181 very preterm infants (<32 weeks gestational age [GA]at birth), we derived skin-to-skin care rate, ie, total minutes of skin-to-skin care each infant received over the number of days of hospital stay. We used scores on the Capute Scales from routine follow-up assessments at 12 months to measure neurodevelopmental outcomes. Families averaged approximately 17 minutes/day of skin-to-skin care (2 days/week, 70 minutes/session), although there was substantial variability. Variation in skin-to-skin rate was positively associated with outcomes at 12 months corrected age (r = 0.25, p < .001). Skin-to-skin rate significantly predicted 6.2% unique variance in 12-month neurodevelopmental outcomes, after adjusting for GA, socioeconomic status (SES), health acuity, and visitation frequency. A 20-minute increase in skin-to-skin care per day was associated with a 10-point increase (0.67 SDs) in neurodevelopmental outcomes at 12 months. GA, and infant health acuity did not moderate these relations. Very preterm infants who experienced more skin-to-skin care during hospitalization demonstrated higher scores on 12-month neurodevelopmental assessments. Results provide evidence that skin-to-skin care confers extended benefits to very preterm infants through the first year of life. Skin-to-skin care offers promise as part of family-centered interventions designed to promote positive developmental outcomes in at-risk infants.

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