One study has concluded that while undergoing intensive care procedures, premature babies feel less pain if they hear their mother’s voice talking to them.
Premature babies (those born before 37 weeks) spend the first days to weeks of their lives in incubators, at which time they undergo various medical procedures.
These may include collecting blood samples for testing, inserting feeding tubes, and intubation for those who need help breathing.
The problem, however, is that it is often not possible to administer pharmaceutical painkillers to babies, as they can interfere with neurological development.
Researchers at the University of Geneva have shown that having the mother present during procedures can reduce pain levels and increase oxytocin levels.
Oxytocin is a hormone that is associated with both happiness and affection.
The results, according to the team, highlighted the importance of parents being present while their baby is in intensive care and is in an important stage of development.
One study has concluded that while undergoing intensive care procedures, premature babies feel less pain if they can hear their mother’s voice. In the photo: a mother calms her child
The study was led by the laboratory of neuropsychologist Didier Grandjean of the University of Geneva, in collaboration with Parini Hospital and researchers from the nearby University of Valle d’Aosta, both in northwestern Italy.
It was based on previous research indicating that the presence of a mother or father can help, through vocal modulations, to calm infants.
(In hospitals, there are other methods used to soothe premature babies, including wraps, sugar solutions, or non-nutritive sucking with a mannequin).
In their study, the researchers recruited 20 premature babies born at Parini Hospital and asked their mothers to be present on a few occasions when their child had a blood test, a procedure in which they take a few drops by the heel.
“We focused this study on the maternal voice,” said Manuela Filippa, the paper’s author and developmental psychologist, also from the University of Geneva.
“In the first days of life it is more difficult for the father to be present, due to working conditions that do not always allow days off,” he explained.
The experiment was conducted in three phases, which were then compared and contrasted. For a blood test, the mother was not present, while in another the mother talked to the baby and in another the mother sang to them.
“For the study, the mother started talking or singing five minutes before the injection, during the injection, and after the procedure,” Dr. Filippa added.
“We also measured the intensity of the voice, so that it would cover the noise around it, as intensive care is often noisy due to ventilation and other medical devices.”
Using the “Premature Childhood Pain Profile” (PIPP), which rates pain on a scale of 0 to 21 according to expressions and measures such as heart rate and oxygenation, the team looked to see if the mother’s presence calmed down. babies.
“To code the behavior of premature babies, we filmed each blood test and judged the‘ blind ’videos, by trained staff, without sound, for not knowing if the mother was present or not,” Professor Grandjean explained.
The team found that the average PIPP dropped from 4.5 to 3 when mothers were present and talking to their child.
“When the mother sings, the PIPP is 3.8,” Professor Grandjean noted.
“This difference with spoken voice is explained by the fact that the mother adapts her vocal intonations less to what she perceives in her baby when she sings, because in a way she is restricted by the melodic structure.”
In addition to using PIPP, the team also explored other ways in which babies responded to their mothers ’voices.
“We quickly turned to oxytocin, the so-called adhesion hormone, which previous studies have already linked to stress, the separation of adhesion figures, and pain,” Dr. Filippa explained.
By collecting saliva samples, the team found that babies ’oxytocin levels increased by an average of 0.8 to 1.4 picograms per milliliter when mothers spoke.
“In terms of oxytocin, this is a significant increase,” Dr. Filippa noted.
The results, according to the team, highlighted the importance of parents being present while their baby is in intensive care and is in an important stage of development.
“We demonstrate here the importance of bringing parents and children together, especially in the delicate context of intensive care,” Dr. Filippa said.
“Parents have a protective role here and can act and feel involved in helping their child be as good as possible,” Professor Grandjean added.
This, he added, “strengthens the essential bonding ties that are taken for granted in a term delivery.”
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Scientific Reports.