Effect of Skin to Skin Contact on Sucking Efficiency of Newborns and Breastfeeding Self Efficacy of Mothers in Cesarean Deliveries

Due to the separation of the mother and the baby after the cesarean section, initiation of breastfeeding by the mother of the newborn in the first hour of life is delayed. The rate of cesarean section in Turkey has increased to 52%, according to the 2019 data of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of cesarean section has increased to 31.7% in the world and up to 65% in the USA. It has been reported in the literature that cesarean deliveries are performed with general, spinal and epidural anesthesia types, and the Apgar scores of newborns after cesarean section performed with spinal and epidural anesthesia are high. In this context, the nurse has a key role in initiating and maintaining breastfeeding after early SSC between the mother and the newborn within the first hour following the cesarean section performed with spinal anesthesia. In the literature, there are studies reporting that skin-to-skin contact applied after normal delivery increases the sucking success of newborns, the successful breastfeeding rate, and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding. There are studies examining the effect of early skin-to-skin contact applied after cesarean section on the suckling success of the newborn and only breastfeeding. Breastfeeding self-efficacy refers to a woman's confidence in her ability to breastfeed her baby. It is reported in the literature that skin-to-skin contact and only breastfeeding education have an effect on breastfeeding self-efficacy.