This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow P3Rs: View responses
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gray, L.
Right arrow Articles by Blass, E. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gray, L.
Right arrow Articles by Blass, E. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Premature & Newborn
Right arrow Nutrition & Metabolism

PEDIATRICS Vol. 105 No. 1 January 2000, p. e14

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Skin-to-Skin Contact Is Analgesic in Healthy Newborns

Received May 24, 1999; accepted Aug 30, 1999.

Larry Gray*, Lisa Watt*, and Elliott M. Blass*, Dagger

From the * Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Dagger  Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts.

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.  Key words:  human newborns, pain, heel lance, skin-to-skin contact, kangaroo care, crying, grimacing, heart rate.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
Variation at the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) influences attachment behavior in infant primates
PNAS, April 1, 2008; 105(13): 5277 - 5281.


Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
J. C. I. Tsao, S. Evans, M. Meldrum, T. Altman, and L. K. Zeltzer
A Review of CAM for Procedural Pain in Infancy: Part II. Other Interventions
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., October 25, 2007; (2007) nem089v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeoReviewsHome page
J. C. Martinez
International Perspectives: Skin-to-skin Contact: A Paramount Contribution to the Modern Neonatal Paradigm
NeoReviews, February 1, 2007; 8(2): e55 - e57.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Pediatr. Rev.Home page
W. T. Zempsky and N. L. Schechter
What's New in the Management of Pain in Children
Pediatr. Rev., October 1, 2003; 24(10): 337 - 348.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 AAP Grand RoundsHome page
D. R. Neuspiel
Breastfeeding Reduces Pain During Newborn Procedures
AAP Grand Rounds, April 1, 2003; 9(4): 41 - 42.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Hum LactHome page
L. Nommsen-Rivers
Breastfeeding Is Analgesic in Healthy Newborns by Gray et al
J Hum Lact, August 1, 2002; 18(3): 294 - 294.
[PDF]

Home page
 Evid. Based Nurs.Home page
S. Gibbins
Skin to skin contact with their mothers reduced pain reactions in healthy newborn infants during a heel lance
Evid. Based Nurs., July 1, 2000; 3(3): 73 - 73.
[Full Text]

P3Rs:

Read all P3Rs

Where's the control?
Dana Bauer
Pediatrics Online, 13 Jan 2000 [Full text]
further studies please
Maia Jones
Pediatrics Online, 18 Jul 2000 [Full text]