title: Handling preterm infants in hospitals. Stimulating controversy about timing of stimulation.
abstract: The authors' research draws from a primary concern for the effects of the animate and inanimate caregiving environment on brain growth and central nervous system organization in hospitalized preterm infants. The current report presents data on physiologic trends in preterm infant heart rate and oxygenation as related to the timing and content of caregiver stimulation, specifically medical and social forms of touch. Results indicate that while most instances of bradycardia were not closely preceded by tactile stimulation, prebradycardia periods, which included touch, had lower pO2 levels than did baseline periods that included touch. These findings suggest that medical or "developmental" tactile stimulation presented when the infant was already physiologically compromised (with low pO2) may potentiate an underlying vulnerability to bradycardia. Timing, versus type, may be the better predictor of the physiologic effect of caregiver interventions on preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gorski
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huntington
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lewkowicz
mesh_terms: D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010812:Physical Stimulation
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen