Skin-To-Skin Contact

Skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant shortly after birth is recommended by WHO as an effective practice helping to initiate early breastfeeding and increasing the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding. The indicator assesses the extent to which this practice is used.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of mothers of children aged 0-11 months:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: Immediately after your youngest baby was born, was her/his naked body placed on your bare chest?

A1: yes / no / does not remember

(ask the following question if the previous answer is YES)

Q2: For how long did the baby stay placed on your bare chest?

A2: less than one hour / more than one hour / does not remember

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of newborns who were placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately following birth for at least an hour by the total number of respondents (exclude those who did not remember). Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by the delivery place (home, health centre, hospital), presence of a skilled birth attendant during delivery (present/ absent; use for home deliveries only), location (rural/ urban) and socio-economic characteristics (e.g. level of education).

1) Since mothers might not remember exactly the information your survey is asking about, consider conducting as many interviews as possible in pairs consisting of the mother and a birth attendant/ relative who attended the delivery/ who took care of the mother. While using such an approach will take you more time, it will very likely result in more accurate data.

2) This indicator relies on accurate age assessment. Since people often do not remember the exact dates of their children’s birth, the data collectors should always verify the child’s age. This can be done by reviewing the child’s birth certificate, vaccination card or another document; however, since many caregivers do not have such documents (and since they can include mistakes), it is essential that your data collectors are able to verify the child’s age by using local events calendars. Read FAO’s Guidelines (see below) to learn how to prepare local events calendars and how to train data collectors in their correct use.