Implementing skin-to-skin contact at birth using the Iowa model: applying evidence to practice.

Prolonged skin-to-skin contact (SSC) between mothers and newborns in the hour after birth is associated with physiologic and psychological benefits for both mothers and infants, yet this is not a standard practice at all birthing facilities. The purpose of the project described in this article was to implement SSC immediately aft er birth for healthy term newborns as a routine, evidence-based practice in a labor and delivery unit at a Midwestern U.S. academic medical center. When incorporated into routine newborn care, SSC promotes key maternal-infant health outcomes of importance to quality nursing care.