Abstract

BARNES, Christopher  and  ADAMSON-MACEDO, Elvidina N.. Understanding the impact of newborn touch upon mothers of hospitalized preterm neonates. J. Hum. Growth Dev. [online]. 2022, vol.32, n.2, pp. 294-301. ISSN 0104-1282.  http://dx.doi.org/10.36311/jhgd.v32.13322.

INTRODUCTION: Many interventions have been designed to support the development of the preterm baby and minimise the complications of prematurity. However, there is limited evidence of the possible psychological benefits of touch to the mother when she is the one performing the support programme during the hospitalisation of her newborn OBJECTIVE: This study explored whether the type of touch provided to preterm neonates had an impact on maternal self-efficacy, self-esteem and maternal-to-infant attachment, as-well-as newborn weight gain METHODS: Using a randomised cluster trial, forty babies and their mothers were allocated to one of two groups receiving either a touch-based intervention (TAC-TIC; Touching And Caressing; Tender In Caring) or spontaneous touch RESULTS: Mothers who provided the touch-based intervention demonstrated greater increases in self-efficacy, self-esteem and attachment, and babies gained more weight than those using spontaneous touch CONCLUSION: The results indicate that systematic touch interventions may be used to facilitate the mother-baby relationship as well as to promote newborn weight gain

Keywords : Touch; Preterm; Newborn; Self-efficacy; Self-esteem; Attachment.

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