The effect of breastfeeding, breast milk odour and mother's heartbeat sound on pain level in newborns: A randomized trial

AIM: This study aimed to compare the effects of breastfeeding, breast milk odour and mother's heartbeat sounds on perceived pain during heel lance procedures in term newborns. DESIGN: This was a randomized three-group experimental study. METHODS: The sample of the study consisted of 90 newborns. The data were collected using pulse oximeter, fetal hand doppler, voice recorder, loudspeaker, a data collection form and the ALPS-Neo Pain and Stress Assessment Scale for Newborn Infants. RESULTS: During the procedure, newborns in the breast milk odour group had high levels of pain and stress, those in the mother's heartbeat sounds group had mild pain and stress, and those in the breastfeeding group had no pain and stress. Additionally, a statistically significant difference was found between their crying times. This difference was the highest for newborns in the breast milk odour group, followed by the mother's heartbeat sounds and breastfeeding groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Breastfeeding and mother's heartbeat sounds, which are non-pharmacological pain relief methods, are effective in neonatal pain management. However, breast milk odour is not effective for pain control in newborns. Further studies should examine the efficacy combinations of these methods.