The Effects of Kangaroo Mother Care and Swaddling on Venipuncture Pain in Premature Neonates: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Hospitalized premature babies often undergo various painful procedures. Kangaroo mother care (KMC) and swaddling are two pain reduction methods.

Objectives: This study was undertaken to compare the effects of swaddling and KMC on pain during venous sampling in premature neonates.

Patients and methods: This study was performed as a randomized clinical trial on 90 premature neonates. The neonates were divided into three groups using a random allocation block. The three groups were group A (swaddling), group B (KMC), and group C (control). In all three groups, the heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation were measured and recorded in time intervals of 30 seconds before, during, and 30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds after blood sampling. The neonate's face was video recorded and assessed using the premature infant pain profile (PIPP) at time intervals of 30 seconds. The data was analyzed using the t-test, chi-square test, Repeated Measure analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis, Post-hoc, and Bonferroni test.

Results: The findings revealed that pain was reduced to a great extent in the swaddling and KMC methods compared to the control group. However, there was no significant difference between KMC and swaddling (P ≥ 0.05).

Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that there is no meaningful difference between swaddling and KMC on physiological indexes and pain in neonates. Therefore, the swaddling method may be a good substitute for KMC.