SWEpap - Parents, a pain-relieving resource in neonatal care

During the most vulnerable period in a child’s life, preterm and sick infants are exposed to a high number of painful procedures, sometimes without the comfort of their parents. Since repeated pain and frequent use of analgesic drugs may have consequences for the neurological and behaviour-oriented development of the infant, it is vital to identify effective non-pharmacological pain relieving interventions. The study “Parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care (SWEpap)” is a cutting-edge interdisciplinary multi-centre clinical study in two parts with mixed methods involving both parents and health professionals. The first part of SWEpap is a participatory action research study investigating parents’ and nurses’ reflections on experiencing combined parent-delivered pain management with breastfeeding (when applicable), skin-to-skin contact, and parents’ infant-directed lullaby singing, during painful procedures in neonatal care. Mental and practical preparation was found to be the key to facilitating combined parent-delivered pain management. The parents’ lullaby singing during the procedure created a calm and trusting atmosphere for infants, parents and nurses. When parents and nurses explored the interventions, they found the methods feasible, promoting self-efficacy and confidence in both parents and nurses. This is the first study exploring healthcare professionals’ and parents’ views and reflections on experiencing combined parent-delivered methods in which live parental lullaby singing is included.

The second part of SWEpap, is an RCT investigating the efficacy of combined parent-delivered pain management with skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding and live parental lullaby singing compared with standard pain care initiated by health care professionals, during routine metabolic screening of newborn infants (PKU-test).

Published results from the SWEpap study part 1 can be read here.

Study protocol.