Skin-to-skin Contact Is Analgesic - newborns

[RedOnce]

Skin-to-skin contact is analgesic in healthy newborns.

Pediatrics. 2000 Jan;105(1):e14.

Gray L, Watt L, Blass EM.

Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [e-mail]

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether skin-to-skin contact between mothers and their newborns will reduce the pain experienced by the infant during heel lance. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 30 newborn infants were studied. INTERVENTIONS: Infants were assigned randomly to either being held by their mothers in whole body, skin-to-skin contact or to no intervention (swaddled in crib) during a standard heel lance procedure. OUTCOME MEASURES: The effectiveness of the intervention was determined by comparing crying, grimacing, and heart rate differences between contact and control infants during and after blood collection. RESULTS: Crying and grimacing were reduced by 82% and 65%, respectively, from control infant levels during the heel lance procedure. Heart rate also was reduced substantially by contact. CONCLUSION: Skin-to-skin contact is a remarkably potent intervention against the pain experienced during heel stick in newborns.

Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
Randomized Controlled Trial

PMID: 10617751

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10617751&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_DocSum

A warm touch improves oxygenation in newborn babies.

Daga SR, Ahuja VK, Lunkad NG.

Neonatal Unit, Cama and Albless Hospital, Mumbai, India.

Oxygen saturation was studied in eight newborn babies, seven preterm and one term, with and without caressing by the mother while receiving gavage feeds. The babies were stable with regard to cardiorespiratory and neurological status. Four babies were still receiving head-box oxygen. The oxygen saturation levels were similar before feeds. However, the levels were significantly higher with caressing at 10, 20 and 30 min after the feed in babies not receiving oxygen and at 20 and 30 min after feeds in babies receiving oxygen.

PMID: 9680785

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9680785&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_DocSum

[Caoimhe]

1. We need studies to tell us what we already know

Like the story the other day that toddlers learn to talk by hearing the words for things they are interested in. Another big DUH!

no offense to you but it seems odd to me we keep seeing new studies coming out that really only verify what human (animal) instinct already tells us.

[Orrex]

3. Instinct tells us a lot that's nonsense, too

Like there are monsters in the darkness, for example. Studies like these help to separate the useful instinctive understanding from the bullshit instinctive understanding.

[RedOnce]

4. Good point, but scientific proof seems to be a prerequisite for

posting in the Health Forum...even for things that verify what human (animal) instinct already tells us!

[Orrex]

2. Interesting! I've heard reports like this for several years, but

I don't know that I'd ever seen a study of a specific pain-relief effect. Of course, it's hard to assess whether it's actually pain or simply anxiety/fear, but I don't know that it makes a difference.

I've read about baby mice (I think it was mice) in labs that were stroked with a soft brush--like a makeup brush--to simulate cleaning by their mother's tongue. The ones that received the brushing fared better than those that did not.

Interesting though this is, I hope it doesn't lead to unjustified leaps such as "skin contact relieves pain in adults." That may or may not be the case, but this study doesn't address it one way or the other.

Neat story!

[RedOnce]

7. "unjustified leaps"...oh, oh...he's on to me!

[Warpy]

15. Well, previous studies of a couple of decades ago cited

faster weight gain, improved oxygenation, and fewer signs of distress when the preemies were put on artificial sheepskin pads rather than the usual crib sheets.

It makes sense. Wouldn't YOU rather sleep on something soft and warm?

[quiet.american]

5. Curious: What is the procedure of "heel lancing" for? n/t

[LizMoonstar]

6. it's how you take a blood sample from a baby, i believe. n/t

[quiet.american]

11. Thanks, LizMoonstar.

:hi:

[LizMoonstar]

13. np duder - i saw it on TV! see, tv is good for you! n/t

[Orrex]

8. It's an ancient tradition

It's intended to guarantee that the son grows up to kill his father, marry his mother, and then put out his eyes.

[trotsky]

9. Orrexipus? n/t

[RedOnce]

10. Lol!

[quiet.american]

12. Alrighty....

:yoiks:

[Warpy]

14. These studies reinvented the wheel because this stuff has been

known for decades. In neonatal intensive care units, where preemies can't tolerate much skin to skin contact, putting them on artificial sheepskin pads has much the same effect.