Skin‐to‐skin contact to support preterm infants and reduce NICU‐related stress
- 22 July 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
- Vol. 82 (7), 639-645
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jdn.10216
Abstract
Objective Hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with numerous painful medical interventions, being separated from parents, leads to the high risk of chronic stress for preterm infants. Today, many NICUs use more appropriate developmental care and pain management, but the early and long-term outcomes of stress in these vulnerable infants require searching for more stress-reducing interventions in neonatal care. The objective of the study was to investigate how skin-to-skin contact (SSC) can influence the biologic stress levels in preterm infants in the NICU by assessing cortisol and oxytocin levels. Participants and methods The study included 71 preterm infants with gestational age less than 34 + 0/7 weeks who were recruited from level III NICU. The overall design was a baseline-response design. Saliva and urine were collected before (baseline) and after skin-to-skin contact to measure salivary cortisol and urinary oxytocin by enzyme immunoassay method. Results The infants' baseline hormonal status was represented by the following indicators: the level of salivary cortisol was 0.402 [0.227; 1,271] mu g/dl, urinary oxytocin 48.88 [32.97; 88.11] pg/ml. There was a decrease in salivary cortisol levels to 0.157 [0.088; 0.351] mu g/dl compared to baseline (p < 0.001) with a simultaneous increase of the urinary oxytocin level -73.59 [45.18; 108.8] pg/ml (p = 0.028) in response to SSC. Conclusion Preterm infants in the NICU experience significant stress, characterized by hormonal imbalance: an increased level of the stress hormone cortisol and a decreased level of the anti-stress hormone oxytocin. Skin-to-skin contact helps to ameliorate the hormonal stress in preterm infants by activating the oxytocin release with simultaneous reduction of cortisol secretion.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Self-soothing behaviors with particular reference to oxytocin release induced by non-noxious sensory stimulationFrontiers in Psychology, 2015
- Does skin-to-skin contact reduce stress during diaper change in preterm infants?Early Human Development, 2014
- Tactile C fibers and their contributions to pleasant sensations and to tactile allodyniaFrontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2014
- Impact of repeated procedural pain-related stress in infants born very pretermPediatric Research, 2014
- Maternal-Preterm Skin-to-Skin Contact Enhances Child Physiologic Organization and Cognitive Control Across the First 10 Years of LifeBiological Psychiatry, 2014
- Neonatal Pain-Related Stress Predicts Cortical Thickness at Age 7 Years in Children Born Very PretermPLOS ONE, 2013
- Level of NICU Quality of Developmental Care and Neurobehavioral Performance in Very Preterm InfantsPEDIATRICS, 2012
- Sex differences in newborn interaction with mother or father during skin‐to‐skin contact after Caesarean sectionActa Paediatrica, 2011
- Effects of Sucking and Skin-to-Skin Contact on Maternal ACTH and Cortisol Levels During the Second Day Postpartum—Influence of Epidural Analgesia and Oxytocin in the Perinatal PeriodBreastfeeding Medicine, 2009
- Acute effects of maternal skin-to-skin contact and massage on saliva cortisol in preterm babiesJournal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 2002