Comparing two methods of crawl and routine breastfeeding on behavior of breastfeeding during two hours after delivery

Background and Objective: Skin to skin continuous contact between mother and neonate, induced by the first breastfeeding, is the fourth of the ten steps for successful breastfeeding during one to two hour of birth that lead to express early breastfeeding behaviors. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of two methods of crawl and routine breastfeeding on behavior of breastfeeding during two hours after delivery. Material and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial (RCT), 60 women with term and singleton pregnancy and without episiotomy in temperature of birth room (23-25 C) were enrolled in Imam Ali hospital, Zahedan, Iran, during 2009-2011. Participants were selected by purposive sampling and were randomly divided in two groups of crawl and routine breastfeeding. In crawl group, the neonate immediately after birth (before all of interventions) lied on mother's skin between breasts and abdomen for 60 minutes to start breast crawl without helping. In routine group, the neonate only lied on mother's skin between breasts and abdomen for 15 minutes. Then, in both groups the neonate was wrapped and closed to mother to be breastfed under the nurse supervision. During this time, 6 items of expository early movement and 4 items of successful breastfeeding behavior were evaluated using infant breastfeeding assessment tool (IBFAT) scale mother's satisfaction of skin contact with neonate was recorded according to numeric scale (0-5). Results: 4 successful breastfeeding behavior items (P < 0.001), and four expository early movement items (P < 0.001) were significantly better in crawl group. Skin sense satisfaction was significantly higher in crawl (4.37 ± 0.62) versus routine (1.93 ± 0.85) group. Conclusion: According to our findings, crawl method was more effective in promoting breastfeeding behavior during two hours after delivery. Regarding young mothers' satisfaction, this method can be recommended to promote successful breastfeeding. Keywords: Breastfeeding, skin to skin contact, breastfeeding behavior, breastfeeding promotion