Pain, Parental Involvement, and Oxytocin in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2019 Apr 20

PMID 31001173

Citations 17

Authors

Manuela Filippa

Pierrick Poisbeau

Jerome Mairesse

Maria Grazia Monaci

Olivier Baud

Petra Huppi

Didier Grandjean

Pierre Kuhn

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Preterm infants (PTI) typically experience many painful and stressful procedures or events during their first weeks of life in a neonatal intensive care unit, and these can profoundly impact subsequent brain development and function. Several protective interventions during this sensitive period stimulate the oxytocin system, reduce pain and stress, and improve brain development. This review provides an overview of the environmental risk factors experienced by PTI during hospitalization, with a focus on the effects of pain, and early maternal separation. We also describe the long-term adverse effects of the simultaneous experiences of pain and maternal separation, and the potential beneficial effects of maternal vocalizations, parental contact, and several related processes, which appear to be mediated by the oxytocin system.

Citing Articles

Maternal singing and speech have beneficial effects on preterm infant's general movements at term equivalent age and at 3 months: an RCT.

Filippa M, Filippa G, Della Casa E, Berardi A, Picciolini O, Meloni S Front Psychol. 2025; 16:1536646.

PMID: 39944047 PMC: 11815593. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1536646.

Enhancing Sensory Experiences for Infants Born Preterm: A Quality Improvement Project.

de Castro Mehrkens K, Donoso Brown E Arch Rehabil Res Clin Transl. 2025; 6(4):100377.

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Repetitive daily oxytocin treatment reduces weight gain but not acute neonatal procedural pain.

Baudat M, Joosten E, Simons S Pediatr Res. 2024; .

PMID: 39523390 DOI: 10.1038/s41390-024-03680-9.

The Effect of Maternal Oxytocin Induction during Birth on Early Neonatal Pain and Stress: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Aksoy S, Yel S, Akyildiz D Biol Res Nurs. 2024; 27(1):101-108.

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Parent-led neonatal pain management-a narrative review and update of research and practices.

Ullsten A, Campbell-Yeo M, Eriksson M Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2024; 5:1375868.

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