Maternal voice reduces pain in premature babies

A baby born prematurely often has to be separated from its parents and placed in an incubator in intensive care. For several weeks, he or she will undergo routine medical procedures that can be painful, without being relieved by too many pharmaceutical painkillers, which are risky for his or her development. So how can we act for the good of the baby? A team observed that when the mother spoke to her baby at the time of the medical intervention, the signs of the baby's expression of pain decreased and his oxytocin level -- the hormone involved in attachment and also linked to stress -- increased significantly, which could attest to better pain management.

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