Demographics and neonatal characteristics according to intervention group
| Skin-to-skin contact n=51 | Standard care n=57 | P value | |
| Any antenatal steroids, n/N (%) | 51/51 (100) | 57/57 (100) | |
| Caesarean section, n/N (%) | 30/51 (59) | 32/57 (56) | |
| Male, n/N (%) | 33/51 (65) | 35/57 (61) | |
| Gestational age (weeks), mean (SD) | 30.3 (1.1) | 30.3 (1.2) | |
| Gestational age (grouped), n/N (%) | |||
| 280–296 | 21/51 (41) | 21/57 (37) | |
| 300–316 | 30/51 (59) | 36/57 (63) | |
| Birth weight (g), mean (SD) | 1436 (266) | 1438 (257) | |
| Birth length (cm), mean (SD)* | 39.7 (2.7) | 40.0 (3.3) | |
| Head circumference, mean (SD) | 28.2 (1.7) | 28.6 (1.5) | |
| Apgar score, median (IQR) | |||
| 1 min | 9 (8-9) | 8 (8-9) | |
| 5 min | 9 (8-10) | 9 (8-10) | |
| 10 min | 9 (9-10) | 9 (9-10) | |
| Age at randomisation (minutes), median (IQR)† | 25 (17–30) | 23 (20–28) | |
| Vaginal delivery | 20 (16–29) | 25 (20–37) | |
| Caesarean delivery | 25 (17–30) | 20 (20–25) | |
| After randomisation | |||
| Hypothermia (<36.0°C) within 2 hours, n/N (%) | 2/51 (4) | 4/57 (7) | 0.68 |
| Vaginal delivery | 0 | 1/25 (4) | 1.00 |
| Caesarean delivery | 2/30 (7) | 3/32 (9) | 1.00 |
| Hyperthermia (>37.5°C) within 2 hours, n/N (%) | 13/51 (26) | 27/57 (47) | 0.02 |
| Vaginal delivery | 8/21 (38) | 13/25 (52) | 0.35 |
| Caesarean delivery | 5/30 (17) | 14/32 (44) | 0.02 |
| Age at first feed (minutes), median (IQR) | 31 (23–40) | 32 (24–48) | 0.38 |
| Vaginal delivery | 29 (23–38) | 31 (22–47) | 0.39 |
| Caesarean delivery | 35 (23–45) | 36 (27–51) | 0.74 |
| Glucose infusion within first 2 hours, n/N (%) | 37/51 (73) | 42/57 (74) | 0.89 |
| Vaginal delivery | 15/21 (71) | 15/25 (60) | 0.42 |
| Caesarean delivery | 22/30 (73) | 27/32 (84) | 0.29 |
| Hypoglycaemia (<2.0 mmol/L) before second feed, n/N (%) | 2/51 (4) | 0 | 0.22 |
| Vaginal delivery | 0 | 0 | – |
| Caesarean delivery | 2/30 (7) | 0 | 0.23 |
| Breastmilk first 24 hours, ml/kg, median (IQR) | 34.0 (26.2–55.3) | 34.7 (26.2–58.4) | 0.92 |
| 280–296 weeks’ gestation | 26.4 (22.1–32.1) | 26.2 (17.3–34.1) | 0.89 |
| 300–316 weeks’ gestation | 52.6 (33.9–61.2) | 46.0 (32.0–65.4) | 0.94 |
| Any breathing support at 120 min, n/N (%) | 47/51 (92) | 50/57 (88) | 0.45 |
*Data were unavailable for two infants in the skin-to-skin group and one in the standard care group.
†Data were unavailable for 10 infants in the skin-to-skin group and 13 in the standard care group. The infants were placed in skin-to-skin position or incubator shortly after randomisation.