Mothers' Views and Experiences of Digital Maternal Presence Intervention and Skin-to-Skin Contact for Neonatal Pain Relief: A Qualitative Study.
Anna-Kaija Palomaa, Eeva Talus, Sirpa Keskitalo-Leskinen and 1 others
PMID 42054232WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers saw skin-to-skin contact as the best pain relief, though they noted it is slow and requires staff flexibility.
Digital maternal heartbeat pads were valued for maintaining a bond when the mother could not be present, despite uncertainty about their analgesic effect.
Key findings
01All mothers considered skin-to-skin contact to be the best method of pain relief for both closeness and effectiveness, preferring it over digital interventions.
02Digital maternal presence interventions were viewed as useful when the mother was absent or the infant's treatment prevented physical contact, fostering a sense of connection.
03Implementation of skin-to-skin contact for pain relief was hindered by the inflexibility of laboratory staff and the ergonomics of blood sampling.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Selection bias is possible as mothers who value family-centred care may have been more likely to participate. The study was conducted in a single Level III NICU in Finland, limiting transferability to other cultural or healthcare settings. Mothers could not distinguish the effects of the interventions from the concurrent use of oral glucose, which has strong analgesic properties. Views on the digital intervention were based on a single instance of use during the RCT.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Alma and K. A. Snellman Foundation and the Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, with no role for funders in the study design, analysis, or reporting.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that digital maternal presence interventions are equivalent to skin-to-skin contact for pain relief. Mothers explicitly preferred skin-to-skin contact, and the effectiveness of the digital method was uncertain and confounded by the concurrent administration of oral glucose.