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Breastfeeding during immunizations or other painful procedures
compiled by Kelly Bonyata, IBCLC
Breastfeeding during a painful procedure such
as a heel-stick for newborn screening provides analgesia to infants.
- American Academy of Pediatrics
policy
statement on breastfeeding
Research indicates that breastfeeding your baby during a minor
painful procedure (immunization, blood draw, etc.) is a safe
and effective method of pain relief.
| References
(most recent listed first) |
Breastfeeding as pain relief
Section on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding
and the Use of Human Milk. Pediatrics 2005 (Feb 1);115(2):496-506.
"Breastfeeding during a painful procedure
such as a heel-stick for newborn screening provides analgesia to
infants."
Zempsky WT, Cravero JP; American Academy of Pediatrics Committee
on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Section on Anesthesiology and
Pain Medicine. Relief
of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients in emergency medical systems.
Pediatrics. 2004 Nov;114(5):1348-56. "Skin-to-skin
contact of an infant with his or her mother and breastfeeding during
a procedure decrease pain behaviors associated with painful stimuli."
Upadhyay A, Aggarwal R, Narayan S, Joshi M, Paul VK, Deorari AK.
Analgesic
effect of expressed breast milk in procedural pain in term neonates:
a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Acta Paediatr.
2004 Apr;93(4):518-22.
Gradin M, Finnstrom O, Schollin J. Feeding
and oral glucose--additive effects on pain reduction in newborns.
Early Hum Dev. 2004 Apr;77(1-2):57-65. (Note that infants were only
breastfed before--not during--the blood draws in this study.)
Potter B, Rindfleisch K. Breastfeeding
reduces pain in neonates. J Fam Pract. 2003 May;52(5):349, 352.
Carbajal R, Veerapen S, Couderc S, Jugie M, Ville Y. Analgesic
effect of breast feeding in term neonates: randomised controlled
trial. BMJ 2003 ( 4 January );326:13.
Gray L, Miller LW, Philipp BL, Blass EM. Breastfeeding
is analgesic in healthy newborns. Pediatrics 2002;109(4):590-593.
Other interventions as pain relief
Other effective interventions include skin to skin contact,
sugar water and/or sucking on a pacifier, and multisensory stimulation.
Carbajal R, Lenclen R, Gajdos V, Jugie M, Paupe A. Crossover
trial of analgesic efficacy of glucose and pacifier in very preterm
neonates during subcutaneous injections. Pediatrics. 2002 Aug;110(2
Pt 1):389-93.
Bellieni CV, Bagnoli F, Perrone S, Nenci A, Cordelli DM, Fusi M,
et al. Effect
of multisensory stimulation on analgesia in term neonates: a randomized
controlled trial. Pediatr Res 2002; 51: 460-463.
Johnston CC, et al. Routine
sucrose analgesia during the first week of life in neonates younger
than 31 weeks' postconceptional age. Pediatrics. 2002 Sep;110(3):523-8.
Anand KJS, the International Evidence-Based Group for Neonatal
Pain. Consensus
statement for the prevention and management of pain in the newborn.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2001; 155: 173-180.
Stevens B, Taddio A, Ohlsson A, Einarson T. Sucrose
for analgesia in newborn infants undergoing painful procedures.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2001;(4):CD001069.
Gray L, Watt L, Blass EM. Skin-to-skin
contact is analgesic in healthy newborns. Pediatrics 2000; 105(1):
E14.
Carbajal R, Chauvet X, Couderc S, Olivier-Martin M. Randomised
trial of analgesic effects of sucrose, glucose, and pacifiers in
term neonates. BMJ 1999; 319: 1393-1397.
Blass EM, Watt LB. Suckling-
and sucrose-induced analgesia in human newborns. Pain 1999;
83: 611-623.
Page last modified:
03/05/2005
Written: 02/03/2005
