Theme: Child protection and managing risk.

Background: Skin-to-skin contact in the first hour of life has benefits for the mother and the newborn, as well as a major role in establishing breastfeeding.

Objectives: Determine the prevalence of skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding within the first hour of life.

Method: A systematic review of literature followed by a quantitative and simple descriptive cross-sectional study, according to a non-probability analyzing of 382 clinic records of postpartum mothers.

Results: Evidence that early skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth is a potential sensory stimulus, which covers the newborn warming, tactile and active stimulation, respiratory rates and level of blood glucose, reduces baby crying and promotes breastfeeding. In the sample, about 92.6% of the mothers put the baby to the breast in the first hour of life, but only 26.6% made skin-to-skin contact with the baby.

Conclusion: Despite the scientific evidence of the benefits of skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, this practice is still not widely used as, according to the study results, and is only applied to one in every four newborns.