Impact of Oil Massage Therapy on Weight Gain in Low-Birth-Weight Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Oil massage therapy on low birth weight (LBW) babies has been proposed to have several potential benefits, including promoting growth & weight gain, improving neurodevelopmental outcomes, reducing stress & promoting sleep, and enhancing parent-infant bonding.Despite the potential benefits of oil massage therapy for LBW babies, there is a lack of highquality evidence to support its use.Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of oil massage therapy on weight gain in LBW babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Methods: In this study, purposive sampling was used to choose a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design with a sample of 30 LBW babies weighing between 1.5-2.5kgs& aged between 10 days to 3 months.Digital newborn weighing equipment was used to determine the weight of LBW newborns, and a self-structured questionnaire was employed to collect socio-demographic data.The study compared an experimental group that received oil massage therapy with a control group that did not receive the intervention.Results: The experimental group, which received oil massage therapy, showed significant weight increases compared to the control group.The pre-test & post-test scores of the experimental group showed a significant increase in weight, indicating the effectiveness of oil massage therapy. Conclusion:The study supports the use of oil massage therapy as a safe & non-medical care strategy to promote weight gain in LBW babies.