Mother’s voice helps premature babies cope with pain | University of Geneva Research

When a premature baby undergoes medical procedures that may be painful, having the mother talking to him reduces signs of pain and increases oxytocin levels, the so-called attachment hormone and which is also linked to stress.

A survey by the University of Geneva published this Friday Scientific reports shows the positive impact of the mother’s presence when premature babies undergo painful medical procedures.

The study, carried out on 20 premature babies, centered on the mother’s voice “because in the first days of life it is more difficult for the father to be present, due to the working conditions which do not always allow days off”said lead author Manuela Filippa of the University of Geneva. And he stressed the importance of a debate and an extension of paternity leave,

A premature baby is usually separated from his parents and placed in an incubator, often in intensive care, where he will undergo routine medical procedures for several weeks which can be painful, but cannot always be relieved by pain relievers, as they can. be risky for its development.

The team found that, if the mother spoke to her baby, the signs of pain expression decreased and her oxytocin level “increased significantly, which could attest to better pain management, ”the university center said in a press release.

For their study, the team followed for three days the analysis carried out on the little ones, by extracting a few drops of blood from the heel. In one of them the mother was not present, in another she spoke to the baby and in the other she sang to him.

For the study, the mother began to speak or sing five minutes earlier and this until the end of the medical act, explained the group leader Didier Grandjean of the University of Geneva.

To study if the pain decreased in the presence of their mother, they used the Premature Baby Pain Profile (PIPP), which establishes a coding grid between 0 and 21 for facial expressions and physiological parameters (heartbeat, oxygenation) that testify of your painful sensations.

The PIPP was 4.5 when the mother was away, it dropped to 3 when she spoke to her, and it was 3.8 if she sang.

Grandjean considers that the difference between speaking and singing is explained by the fact that the mother adapts her vocal intonations less to what she perceives in her baby when she sings, which is not the case when she speaks.

Additionally, they saw the baby’s oxytocin levels drop from 0.8 picograms per milliliter to 1.4 when the mother spoke. “In terms of oxytocin, this is a significant increase,” he said.

These results demonstrate the positive impact of the mother’s presence when premature babies undergo painful medical procedures. “Here we demonstrate the importance of uniting parents and children, especially in the delicate context of intensive care”underlined Filippa.