Early skin-to-skin at 22–25 weeks met a thermal test—but only as a protocol

Across 125 sessions in 46 infants, skin-to-skin care met the study’s thermal non-inferiority criterion. A wide margin, strict readiness checks and two tube dislodgements keep this a protocol-feasibility signal.

THE HOT TAKE

The signal belongs to the whole thermal-and-transfer protocol—not to skin-to-skin contact stripped of the system that made it work.

This prospective, single-center non-inferiority study followed infants born at 22–25 weeks in Uppsala, Sweden. Of 70 infants born during the study period, 51 were included and 46 contributed temperature data; 20 of those 46 were born at 22–23 weeks. The analysis covered 125 skin-to-skin-care sessions in the first two postnatal weeks, with measurements scheduled at ages 4–6, 6–7, and 11–13 days.

This was not unstructured skin-to-skin care. A session started only after individualized clinical assessment and an axillary temperature of at least 36.5 °C. The unit used a 26 °C room, a standardized insulated nest and blankets, continuous cutaneous temperature monitoring, an extra blanket if skin temperature had not risen after one hour, a minimum two-hour session, secured tubes and lines, and assigned roles for the transfer.