Each year, Maternal & Child Nutrition announces the papers that were most cited. And for the period of January 2018 through December 2019, an article titled “An implementation algorithm to improve skin-to-skin practice in the first hour after birth” co-authored by Healthy Children Project faculty members Kajsa Brimdyr and Karin Cadwell and their colleagues was one of the most cited.

The article introduces a novel algorithm to analyze the practice of skin-to-skin in the first hour using two data sets and suggests opportunities for practice improvement. The algorithm considers the mother’s Robson criteria, skin‐to‐skin experience, and Widström’s 9 Stages. Using data from vaginal births in Japan and cesarean births in Australia, the algorithm utilizes data in a new way to highlight challenges to best practice. The use of a tool to analyze the implementation of skin‐to‐skin care in the first hour after birth illuminates the successes, barriers, and opportunities for improvement to achieving the standard of care for babies.

In recognition of the impact of the authors’ work, Maternal & Child Nutrition awarded them a certificate of achievement.

To read the article, click here.

For a list of all peer-reviewed articles on skin-to-skin published by Healthy Children Project faculty, click here.