Integration of Different Sensory Interventions From Mother’s Breast Milk for Preterm Infant Pain During Peripheral Venipuncture Procedures: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Purpose To compare the effects of integrating mother’s breast milk (BM) with three different combinations of sensory stimuli on preterm infant pain during peripheral venipuncture procedures. Design A prospective, repeated‐measures randomized controlled trial. Methods Preterm infants (gestational age between 28 and 37 weeks, and in stable condition) needing venipuncture were recruited by convenience sampling ( N = 140) and randomly assigned to four treatment conditions: (a) routine care (condition 1); (b) BM odor or taste (condition 2); (c) BM odor or taste + heartbeat sounds (HBs; condition 3), and (d) BM odor or taste + HBs + non‐nutritive sucking (NNS; condition 4). Pain scores were assessed based on the Premature Infant Pain Profile‐Revised (PIPP‐R) over nine phases: baseline (phase 0, 5 min without stimuli before venipuncture), disinfecting (phase 1), during venipuncture (phase 2), and a 10‐min recovery (phases 3–8). Findings Infants who received BM odor or taste + HBs + NNS had significantly lower increases in pain scores from baseline compared with controls across phases 1 through 8. Infants treated with either condition 2 or 3 demonstrated significant reductions in mild pain during disinfecting and recovery phases, as compared with the controls. When condition 2 was used as the reference, there were no significant differences in pain scores between the infants receiving condition 3 across the nine phases, suggesting mothers’ HBs have only mild analgesic effects on venipuncture pain. Conclusions Integration of mother’s BM odor or taste, HBs, and tactile NNS should be considered as an intervention for alleviation of procedural pain for preterm infants. Clinical Relevance Clinicians should incorporate the integrated sensory intervention into caregiving support for preterm infants undergoing short painful procedures.