CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02998463Updated Jul 26, 2019

Facilitating Skin-to-Skin Contact In the Postnatal Period

An interventional study of skin-to-skin facilitating garment in Breast Feeding and Body Temperature Changes, sponsored by Birmingham City University. Completed at 2 sites in United Kingdom. Open to female participants aged 16 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-07-26.

Sponsored by Birmingham City University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
110
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
16 Years and older
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of a skin-to-skin facilitating garment used by mother-infant dyads. It has three phases including researcher observation, randomised controlled trialing and qualitative midwifery staff perspective. The research will determine the effect a facilitating garment has in comparison to conventionally facilitated skin-to-skin contact, by measuring its effect on the baby's temperature stability, breastfeeding status and weight velocity.

Read the detailed description

Skin-to-skin contact is used as part of a package of Kangaroo Mother Care across the world. This has been demonstrated to reduce neonatal morbidity, mortality, and inpatient stays for low birth weight and preterm infants (Charpak and Ruiz 2016).

This study examines the effect a facilitating garment, the Snuby® has on neonatal health outcomes associated with skin-to-skin contact, such as neonatal thermoregulation, breastfeeding status, and self-reported mother-infant bonding. It uses a mixed methods approach to address quantitative and qualitative outcomes including participant's perspectives, and measurable health markers.

02

Conditions studied

  • Breast Feeding
  • Body Temperature Changes

Keywords

  • Skin-to-skin
  • Kangaroo Care
  • Kangaroo Mother Care
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In context

Body Temperature Changes

93 studies on the registry are indexed under Body Temperature Changes; 20 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 110 is above the median of 38 across 64 interventional studies indexed under Body Temperature Changes.

Browse Body Temperature Changes studies →

Lead sponsor

Birmingham City University is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
16 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Eligibility criteria

Maternal participants

Inclusion Criteria:

Women, non-binary and transgender participants. Aged 16+ years old. Vaginal birth, including ventouse, forceps and spontaneous vaginal birth. 28+ weeks pregnant. Body Mass Index of 18 to 30 inclusive. Births between 37 and 42 completed weeks of pregnancy. Women without any morbidities that will significantly impair their ability to independently parent their baby.

Women planning to give birth on the labour ward, co-located birth centre, standalone birth centre or at home.

Exclusion Criteria:

Caesarean section births. High dependency Unit patients. Illiterate in English. Multiple pregnancies e.g. twins. Registered child protection concerns. Substance misusing women. Body Mass Index of less than 18 at booking appointment. Body Mass Index of more than 30 at booking appointment. Aged under 16 years old.

Neonatal participants

Inclusion criteria:

Born 37 to 42 completed weeks gestation. Birth weight between 2500g and 4000g . Weight at six weeks of age less than 6000g. Neonates requiring blood glucose prefeed monitoring. From birth to six weeks of age.

Exclusion criteria:

Preterm neonates (less than 37 weeks gestation). Requirement for special or intensive neonatal care. Receiving phototherapy. Receiving intravenous antibiotics. Falling growth velocity of more than 2 centiles. Aged over 6 weeks old.

Midwifery staff participants

Inclusion Criteria:

Working at the National Health Service Trust hosting the research. Working through the Hospital Bank. Registered midwife through the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Working on band 5, 6 or 7. Working within the hospital setting.

Exclusion Criteria:

Midwifery staff working in the community without rotating to the hospital wards.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
110 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Snuby® users

    This group receives the Snuby® skin-to-skin facilitating garment to use in the first six weeks following birth with their baby. The use of the Snuby® garment is participant led, and used for as long and as often as they wish in the six week period.

    Device: skin-to-skin facilitating garment

  • No intervention
    Conventional Care

    This group does not receive any intervention, and collects data on the research outcomes when having conventionally facilitated skin-to-skin contact, using a towel, blanket, or clothing as preferred. Skin-to-skin contact frequency and duration is dictated by the participant.

Interventions

  • Deviceskin-to-skin facilitating garment

    Fabric garment designed to accommodate term neonates having skin-to-skin contact.

    Also known as: Snuby®

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Abnormal neonatal temperature

    Axillary temperature taken by the mother with Eco Temp Basic thermometer. Abnormal: less than 36.5°C or more than 37.5°C.

    Time frame: Following 30 minutes of skin-to-skin contact, in both Intervention and Control groups.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Breastfeeding Status

    Exclusive breastfeeding, mixed breast and formula feeding, exclusive formula feeding, addition of expressed breastmilk. Includes a comparison to self reported antenatal infant feeding intentions.

    Time frame: Assessed at 3 days post birth, then weekly from day of birth until six weeks postnatal.

  2. Mother Infant bonding

    Maternal participants will self report on their perspectives of skin-to-skin contact, and its role in the relationship bonding process between themselves and their babies.

    Time frame: Six weeks post birth

  3. Neonatal Weight Velocity

    Neonatal weight in grams to ensure suitable for Snuby® garment.

    Time frame: At a minimum of 3 intervals, including at birth, ten days, and at six weeks post birth.

  4. Maternal participant's perspective

    Maternal participants will self-report their views on the garment's ease of use and perceived value. This will be compared to the control group reporting on the same outcomes with conventionally facilitated skin-to-skin contact.

    Time frame: Weekly until 6 weeks post birth

  5. Midwifery participant's perspective

    Qualitative data collection from midwifery participants, including their perspectives on skin-to-skin contact in the hospital setting, and the perceived value of the Snuby® garment.

    Time frame: 12 months post birth of the first participating mother-infant dyad.

07

Study locations

2 sites
  • Birmingham City University
    Birmingham, West Midlands B15 3TN, United Kingdom
  • Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
    Birmingham, West Midlands B15 3TN, United Kingdom
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Charpak N, Ruiz JG. Latin American Clinical Epidemiology Network Series - Paper 9: The Kangaroo Mother Care Method: from scientific evidence generated in Colombia to worldwide practice. J Clin Epidemiol. 2017 Jun;86:125-128. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.05.019. Epub 2016 Oct 17. PubMed 27765653 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 26, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02998463
Lead sponsor
Birmingham City University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 20, 2016
Start date
Mar 31, 2017
Primary completion
Jun 20, 2019
Completion
Jun 20, 2019
Last update
Jul 26, 2019

Study contacts

Helen McIntyre, DHSci
principal investigator · University of Leicester

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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