The Effectiveness of Two Different Methods Applied During Heel Blood Collection on Pain Level of Healthy Term Newborns

This study was conducted in the baby's nursery of Bandirma State Hospital, Turkey between March and June 2016. It was designed as a prospective randomized clinical trial that evaluated and experimentally determined the effects of swaddling and maternal holding during heel stick on pain levels in healthy term neonates.

The study comprised all newborns who came to the baby's nursery for a heel stick procedure for routine metabolic screening; the study sample consisted of 105 healthy newborns who matched the case selection criteria and underwent heel stick. The inclusion criteria were as follows: full term neonates (38-42 weeks of gestation) who underwent heel stick blood drawing for routine metabolic screening, were aged 2 to 4 days, and had passed the hearing screening. Babies with congenital anomalies were excluded from the study.

In the power analysis conducted using heel stick literature1,4,9, the sample size required for 80% reliability and α=0.05 was 35 in each group; the total was 105. Neonates were randomized into three groups and 35 babies were evaluated in each group (swaddling [n=35], maternal holding [n=35], control [n=35]) (Figure 1). Numbers from 1-105 were randomly distributed by a computer program to the three groups with no number repetition to determine which child would be allocated to which group.

The study data were obtained using an information form and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS).

Information Form: This form contained questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the neonate and family. It consisted of 20 questions in total comprising personal characteristics information of the families, and sex, delivery method (vaginal or cesarean), gestational age, birth weight, postnatal age (hours after birth) of the neonate and period of procedures.