Early skin-to-skin contact and the risk of intraventricular haemorrhage and sepsis in preterm infants

AimThis study aimed to investigate the risks of intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) or sepsis in extremely and very preterm infants exposed to early skin-to-skin contact (SSC).MethodsData from the Swedish Neonatal Quality Register from 2015 to 2021 were extracted to compare the proportions of infants exposed and not exposed to SSC on day 0 and/or 1 in life that developed IVH or sepsis.ResultsA total of 2514 infants, 1005 extremely preterm and 1509 very preterm, were included. This amounted to 69% of all extremely and very preterm infants born during the study period. The proportion of infants with IVH exposed and not exposed to early SSC was 11% and 27%, an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 0.67 (95%CI 0.52-0.86, p = 0.002). The proportion of infants with sepsis exposed and not exposed to early SSC was 16% and 30%, an aOR of 0.94 (95%CI 0.75-1.2, p = 0.60). For extremely preterm infants, the proportion with sepsis when exposed and not exposed to early SSC was 29% and 44%, an aOR of 0.65 (95%CI 0.46-0.92, p = 0.015).ConclusionIn the current setting, the risk of IVH or sepsis is not increased when an extremely or very preterm infant is exposed to early SSC.