Table 6.

Quantitative and qualitative findings on skin-to-skin contact after delivery by country

Country	Percent placed skin-to-skin (STS) after delivery	Barriers to skin-to-skin after delivery
Ethiopia	13% had STS on the day of delivery (8% for home and 26% for facility) [31]	No information
Ghana	8% had any STS in the first 24 h (10% for home and 6% for facility births) [11]	Few opportunities due to other activities [11, 38]
Malawi	No information	Exhausts mother Mother not clean enough for breastfeeding [16]
Mali	2% placed on the mother’s chest* [29]	No information
Senegal	No information	Mother’s sweat could pass illness [26]
Tanzania	1% placed on the chest after the cord is cut (home births) [21]	May hurt the babies’ cord, chest or bones Few opportunities due to other activities Mother is in pain/has problems after birth STS is not practiced at the facility STS is not necessary [27]
Uganda	2% had STS* [24]	Baby/mother is dirty and could transmit disease [30, 35], particularly HIV through the umbilicus [39] May hurt the cord [39] Baby would get cold if not wrapped [30] Difficult for mother to rest and invasion of privacy [39]

*Time not given