The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a stressful and traumatic environment for newborns.

Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is recognized worldwide as the ideal environment for newborns and their families in the NICU because of its many benefits, including reduced stress, reduced transmission of various hospital-acquired illnesses, and increased parent-child attachment.

The most recent recommendations advise that it be used early and often, and for as long as possible.

To follow these recommendations, a project to improve quality of care was launched in the NICU at CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. The project was rolled out between January 2021 and December 2022.

Several strategies were adopted to improve SSC quantity (duration, frequency) and quality (transfer methods, positioning):

• – developing a multi-disciplinary SSC protocol
• – creating an online SSC training module
• – purchasing tools to maximize the comfort and safety of the SSC system (zero gravity chair and Kangaroo tube)
• – giving parents access to SSC resources (fact sheets and online videos)

Implementing the project led to several extremely satisfactory outcomes:

• – increased length of SSC sessions, from 89 minutes to 103 minutes
• – increased frequency of SSC sessions, from 29% to 100%
• – increased frequency of standing transfers, from 61% to 76%

Project submitted by Isabelle Milette, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner

Other contributors: the entire neonatal intensive care unit team at the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, particularly the developmental care operational committee: Caroline Bédikian, Unit Head, Dr. Marie St-Hilaire, Dr. Alexandre Barbier, Carole-Anne U. Beaumier, Nurse, Arianne Desrochers, Nurse, Marie-Pier Paradis, Nursing Consultant, Émilie Lavallée, Senior Nursing Consultant, Luc Bardier, Respiratory Therapist Coordinator, and Rachèle Gaudreault, Occupational Therapist and Professional Team Leader