May 2001
 Babies
who get shots while they are being breastfed experience less pain than
babies who aren't being breastfed during the experience.
This is
all according to researchers at McGill University's Montreal
Children's Hospital Research Institute in Quebec, Canada, who
presented their study recently at the Pediatrics Academic Societies
Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
Previous studies have shown that the taste, suckling, nutrients and
contact associated with breast-feeding can activate a variety of
responses that result in a reduction in the sensation of pain,
according to Dr. Ronald Barr and associates.
Dr. Barr and other researchers measured a variety of indicators of
pain and discomfort during the injection and the following minute and
compared the responses of babies who nursed during the injection with
those who were simply held by their mothers during the experience.
Babies who were breastfeeding showed fewer signs of distress and
pain during the injection than babies who were only held, the report
indicates.
"But the differences were even more substantial when we looked at
the time of the shot and the following period,'' Barr said.
"This
result differs from other studies that showed differences during the
injection but not afterwards.''
"This implies that breast-feeding moderates the pain experience as
well as recovery from pain,'' the study authors conclude.
"This is the simplest manipulation I can imagine to reduce the
pain experienced by the infant. I can't imagine any downside to this
approach,'' Barr said.
Barr stated that mothers should be encouraged to allow this close
contact as one way to reduce the pain of shots for the infant.'
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