Table 1.
Evidence for parent-delivered interventions: breastfeeding.
| Author (year), country | Study design | Population, setting | Type of pain, intervention | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leite et al. (34), Brazil | RCT | 60 full-term infants, outpatient department | Heel lance, breastfeeding vs. maternal holding | Lower NFCS score and heart rate |
| Holsti et al. (35), Canada | RCT | 57 preterm infants, GA 30–36 weeks, NICU | Heel lance, breastfeeding vs. non-nutritive sucking (soother) | No difference in BIIP score |
| Del Rey Hurtado de Mendoza et al. (36), Spain | RCT | 136 term newborns, tertiary public hospital | Heel lance, SSC mother vs. sucrose vs. SSC + breastfeeding vs. SSC + sucrose | Lower NIPS score in the group with SSC and breastfeeding than in the other groups |
| Bembich et al. (37), Italy | Pilot study | 30 full-term infants* | Heel prick, breastfeeding vs. glucose | Lower NIPS score |
| Lima et al. (38), Brazil | RCT | 64 full-term infants, rooming-in | Venipuncture, breastfeeding vs. non-nutritive sucking vs. control (no intervention) | Both breastfeeding and non-nutritive sucking provided lower NIPS score |
| Modarres et al. (39), Iran | RCT | 130 full-term infants, vaccination unit | Vaccination, breastfeeding vs. maternal holding | Lower DAN score |
| Zhu et al. (40), China | RCT | 250 full-term infants, postpartum unit | Heel lance, breastfeeding vs. recorded music vs. combined breastfeeding and recorded music vs. control (no intervention) | Lower NIPS score, longer latency to first cry, shorter duration of first cry with breastfeeding alone and in combination with recorded music |
| Baskaran (41), India | Cross-sectional study | 113 full-term infants, vaccination unit | Vaccination, breastfeeding before painful procedure | Lower NIPS score 30–60 min after breastfeeding |
| Chiabi et al. (42), Kamerun | RCT | 100 full-term infants, maternity unit | Heel prick, breastfeeding vs. glucose | Lower NIPS score than the glucose group |
| Hashemi et al. (43), Iran | RCT | 131 term neonates, vaccination unit | BCG vaccination, swaddling vs. breastfeeding 45 min before vaccination vs. combination swaddling and breastfeeding vs. control (no intervention) | Lower NFCS score in all groups compared to control |
| Singh et al. (44), India | RCT | 60 full-term infants, NICU | Heel lance, breastfeeding vs. maternal holding | Shorter crying time with breastfeeding, less rise in heart rate |
| Fallah et al. (45), Iran | RCT | 120 term neonates, maternity ward | BCG vaccination, breastfeeding vs. SSC mother vs. swaddling | NIPS score was lower than in the SSC and swaddling groups |
| Zargham-Boroujeni et al. (46), Iran | RCT | 75 neonates >34 weeks GA, NICU | Venipuncture, breastfeeding vs. massage on the venipuncture site vs. control (no intervention) | Lower NIPS score than in the control group |
| Bembich et al. (47), Italy | RCT | 80 term newborns, nursery | Heel stick, (1) oral glucose on changing table, (2) maternal expressed breast milk on changing table, (3) maternal holding plus oral glucose, (4) breastfeeding | Lower NIPS score in the holding plus breastfeeding group compared with the other groups |
| Rioualen et al. (48), France | RCT | 102 full-term neonates, maternity ward | Venipuncture, breastfeeding vs. oral sucrose | No difference in NIRS |
| Gajbhiye et al. (49), India | 3-group experiment without randomization | 150 full-term infants, postnatal ward | Vaccination, breastfeeding vs. oral sucrose vs. control (no intervention) | Lower PIPP score than in sucrose group |
| Hatami Bavarsad et al. (50), Iran | RCT | 100 full-term infants, maternity ward | Vaccination, breastfeeding vs. expressed breastmilk vs. powdered formula group vs. control group (no feeding) | Lower DAN score than in the other interventions |
| Soltani et al. (51), Iran | RCT | 161 full-term infants, pediatric ward | Heel prick, breastfeeding vs. SSC vs. oral dextrose vs. EMLA cream | The breastfeeding method showed the lowest NIPS score in comparison with the other interventions |
| Dar et al. (52), Pakistan | RCT | 60 full-term infants, outpatient department | Vaccination, breastfeeding vs. control (no intervention) | Shorter crying duration with breastfeeding |
| Aydin and Inal (53), Turkey | RCT | 150 full-term infants, baby nursery | Heel stick, breastfeeding vs. heel warming vs. control (no intervention) | Lowest NIPS score in the breastfeeding group Shorter crying duration with breastfeeding |
| Kumar et al. (54), India | Observational | 300 full-term infants, postnatal ward | Immunization, breastfeeding vs. non-nutritive sucking vs. rocking vs. 25% sucrose vs. distilled water vs. control (no intervention) | Lower DAN score and shorter crying duration in the breastfeeding group compared with controls |
| Yilmaz and Inal (55), Turkey | RCT | 169 term newborn infants, maternity ward | Heel lancing, (1) control group without analgesia, (2) swaddling, (3) swaddling and maternal holding, (4) swaddling and maternal holding and breastfeeding | Lower NIPS score with combined swaddling, maternal holding and breastfeeding compared to all other groups Duration of crying and calming time were shorter with combined swaddling, maternal holding, and breastfeeding than in all other groups |
RCT, randomized control trial; NFCS, Neonatal Facial Coding System; GA, gestational age; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; BIIP, behavioral indicators of infant pain; SSC, skin-to-skin contact; NIPS, Neonatal Infant Pain Scale; DAN, Douleur Aiguë Nouveau-né; BCG, Bacillus Calmette-Guèrin; NIRS, near-infrared spectroscopy; PIPP, Premature Infant Pain Profile.
*
Setting not reported in article.