We can help to reduce our babies’ pain

"The sound of Mom's voice is the most comforting sound to a young child." - Marilyn vos Savant.

When our babies are born prematurely, they experience early separation from us, their parents, and begin to undergo frequent painful medical procedures such as glucose testing, blood tests and other painful procedures that have both short and long term negative effects on their neurodevelopment. These neonatal period is a critical time for brain development, and painful procedures can have long-term effects on neurodevelopment. But the good news is that there are studies that show that breast voice of the mom is a non-pharmacological intervention to reduce procedural pain in neonates. 

Research that studied pain reduction was generated by a comprehensive search of electronic databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library.  These studies concluded with a total of 385 neonates that the use of maternal voice during heel lance, venipuncture and eye examination procedures significantly reduced procedural pain in neonates compared to standard intervention. 

It is important to note that the use of maternal voice should not replace appropriate medical treatment, such as the use of analgesics or local anesthesia when necessary. However, it can be a valuable adjunct to standard care and can help reduce the pain and discomfort of our premature babies by increasing the babies' happy hormone oxytocin.

The interesting thing about this study is that it benefits all babies, even those who, due to medical conditions, cannot be held and be in direct contact with their parents.