Randomised study showed that recorded maternal voices reduced pain in preterm infants undergoing heel lance procedures in a neonatal intensive care unit

Abstract

Aim: Alleviating pain in neonates should be the goal of all caregivers. We evaluated whether recorded maternal voices were safe and effective in limiting pain in preterm infants undergoing heel lance procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit of an Italian children's hospital.Methods: This prospective, controlled study took place from December 2013 to December 2015. We enrolled 40 preterm infants, born at a 26-34 weeks of gestation, at a corrected gestational age 29-36 weeks and randomised them to listen or not listen to a recording of their mother's voice during a painful, routine heel lance for blood collection. Changes in the infants' Premature Infant Pain Profile, heart rate, oxygen saturation and blood pressure during the procedure were compared by analysis of variance. Possible side effects, of apnoea, bradycardia, seizures and vomiting, were also recorded.Results: Both groups showed a marked increase in PIPP scores and decrease in oxygen saturation during the procedure, but infants in the treatment group had significantly lower PIPP scores (p = 0.00002) and lower decreases in oxygen saturation (p = 0.0283). No significant side effects were observed.Conclusion: Using recorded maternal voices to limit pain in preterm infants undergoing heel lance procedures appeared safe and effective.

Non-pharmacological pain management in the neonatal intensive care unit: Managing neonatal pain without drugs

“…However, studies have yielded mixed results. One type of sound therapy that has demonstrated analgesic qualities in both preterm and full-term neonates has been exposure to the mother's voice [52,53]. Additionally, listening to classical music was shown to be effective in reducing pain responses during routine heel lances [54].…”

Study protocol: parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care – SWEpap, a multi-center randomized controlled trial

“…Previous research with recorded music stimulation with instrumental lullaby music, selected in consultation with an accredited music therapist, has shown similar effect to the current gold standard of oral sucrose [46], and the combination of music stimulation with sucrose provides better pain relief during blood sampling than when sucrose or music is used alone [46]. Recorded mother's voice has also shown similar pain alleviating effects as oral sweet solutions [47,48].…”

Reducing toxic stress in the neonatal intensive care unit to improve infant outcomes

“…Maternal odors provided by breastmilk and scent cloths provide comfort and physiologic stability to NICU infants (Badiee, Asghari, & Mohammadizadeh, 2013;Baudesson de Chanville et al, 2017;Martha G. Welch et al, 2013). Recordings of parents' singing, womb sounds, and voices enhance infant sleep, feeding, and physiologic stability (Chirico et al, 2017;Doheny, Hurwitz, Insoft, Ringer, & Lahav, 2012;El-Dib & Glass, 2015;Filippa et al, 2017). Importantly, parent-scented cloths and voice recordings can be administered by nurses when parents are absent.…”