Journal of Preventive Medicine

---

Objective Given the importance of skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her baby within the first hour after birth, due to its positive effects on the infant’s health, it is essential to evaluate the implementation of this practice is a crucial step in enhancing the quality of maternity healthcare services, the present study aims to identify the predictors of employee performance in implementing skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby and initiating breastfeeding within the first hour after birth.
Methods This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted in 2022 on 99 maternity health workers at Ayatollah Mousavi Hospital in Zanjan, Iran, and 386 mothers who gave birth at this hospital. Employee performance in implementing skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby and the initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after birth was measured through self-assessment and interviews with mothers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and linear regression analysis. The significance level was set at 0.05.
Results Self-assessments of employees showed that 32.3% had good performance. More than 40% of mothers perceived the health workers ‘ performance as good. Linear regression analysis revealed that working in the maternity block was significantly associated with good performance (β=0.24, P=0.001). Additionally, non-participation in training courses was associated with decreased performance (β=-0.65, P=0.001); Moreover, the regression model showed that mothers with a university education were more likely to perceive health workers’ performance as good (β=0.22, P=0.001). Also, mothers who did not receive training were less likely to perceive health workers’ performance as good (β=-0.20, P=0.001). 
Conclusion The performance of maternity health workers working in the study hospital in implementing the skin-to-skin contact guidelines and initiating breastfeeding within the first hour after birth is relatively favorable. However, it is far from ideal level.