title: Maternal factors regulating preterm infants' responses to pain and stress while in maternal kangaroo care.
abstract: The relationship between maternal factors and the response of preterm infants to pain and stress experienced during heel puncture while in maternal kangaroo care was investigated. This descriptive study included 42 mothers and their preterm infants cared for in a neonatal unit. Data were collected in the baseline, procedure, and recovery phases. We measured the neonates' facial actions, sleep and wake states, crying, salivary cortisol levels, and heart rate, in addition to the mothers' behavior, salivary cortisol levels, and mental condition. The influence of the maternal explanatory variables on the neonatal response variables were verified through bivariate analysis, ANOVA, and multiple regression. The mothers' behavior and depression and/or anxiety did not affect the neonates' responses to pain and stress, though the mothers' levels of salivary cortisol before the procedure explained the variance in the neonates' levels of salivary cortisol after the procedure (p=0.036). Additionally, the mothers' baseline levels of salivary cortisol along with the neonates' age explained the variance in the neonates' heart rate (p=0.001). The ability of mothers to regulate their own stress contributed to the infants' responses to pain and stress.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brasil. thaccastral@gmail.com
authors.forename: Thaíla Corrêa
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Castral
authors.forename: Fay Fathalee
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Warnock
authors.forename: Laiane Medeiros
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Maria Gorete Lucena
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: de Vasconcelos
authors.forename: Adriana Moraes
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Carmen Gracinda Silvan
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Scochi
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety; D005260:Female; D006365:Heel; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D060127:Kangaroo-Mother Care Method; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D011677:Punctures; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult