Advertisement

Babies feel less pain during injections when held against mother's skin, study finds

A mother cradles her baby - Lucy von Held/Getty Images
A mother cradles her baby - Lucy von Held/Getty Images

Babies feel less pain during injections when they have skin-on-skin contact with their mother, a UCL study has found.

Newborns held through clothing showed more brain activity when being administered a jab compared with those held directly against their parent's skin, the researchers discovered.

The baby's response to pain was "dampened" by the soothing intimacy of being held so close to their caregiver, they concluded.

Dr Judith Meek, who co-authored the study, said: "Parents and clinicians have known for many years how important skin to skin care is for babies. Now we have been able to demonstrate that this has a solid neurophysiological basis, which is an exciting discovery."

Dr Lorenzo Fabrizi, from UCL, said the research cannot demonstrate for certain that the baby feels less pain, but does show the importance of touch.

The study, published in the European Journal of Pain, involved 27 babies up to 96 days old who were born either premature or at term age.

A heel lance blood test was carried out on the babies while their brain activity was recorded through EEG electrodes placed on the scalp.

They were all wearing nappies; one group was held against their mother's bare chest, the second was held against their mother's clothing, and the third was left in a cot or incubator.

The initial brain response to the pain was the same in both groups. However, subsequent waves diminished among the babies being held against bare skin.

While the babies' behaviour was not significantly different, those held against bare skin exhibited "slightly reduced" responses in terms of facial expression and heart rate.

Babies in the cot or incubator also reacted less strongly to the pain than those held against clothing. The researchers suggest this may be because they were not disrupted by being picked up before the procedure.