Role of Massage with Virgin Coconut Oil-based Emollient on Growth, Bone Strength and Neurodevelopment of Newborns

Coconut oil supplementation is helpful in maturity of skin with additional anti-microbial effect. This study will be conducted to determine the efficacy of coconut oil massage in newborn on their growth, bone strength, neurodevelopment and brain growth**.**Newborn discharged from maternity ward or Sick Newborn Care Unit and aged ≤15 days will be included in this study. Exclusion criteria were major systemic illness, refusal of consent, and planning to change residence. Infants of group A will receive massage with coconut oil-based emollient as described by Kumar et al for three months. Newborns of group B receive only massage without any emollient application. Anthropometric parameters of all newborns will be measured fortnightly till 6 month. Skin condition of the newborn will be assessed at the time of recruitment,14th and 28th day. Sound velocity at the upper end of tibia will be measured at 3rd and 6th month (±7 days) by trained radiologist. Neurodevelopment will be assessed at 6th month by DASII scale. Collected data will be entered in Microsoft excel worksheet after double-checking. SPSS version 19.0 will be used for data-analysis. P<0.05 will be taken as statistically significant. Coconut oil massage might be helpful in reducing the neonatal and infant mortality in an economic way.