Abstract 34
Background: Clinical observations suggest that newborns have a higher pain threshold immediately after birth. To test the hypothesis we measured the response to a standardized pain stimulus (K-vitamin inj) and non-painful cold stimulus.
Patients and Methods 46 delivered vaginally and 8 by sectio. Response to pain was measured as the change in heart rate from a 30-sec baseline to a 10-sec peak during injection and cry characteristics.
Results: The HR following pain stimulus increased significantly with time after delivery in vaginally delivered infants only (linear regression p<0.0001). The change in HR to pain was significantly greater than that to cold (ANOVA p=0.00015. The infants who did not cry or grunted were significantly younger (ANOVA p=0.001)
Conclusions: The HR and cry response to a standardized pain stimulus increases significantly between 30 and 240 minutes after birth suggesting that the newborn infant is less sensitive to pain immediately after delivery.
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Bergqvist, L., Baumann, P., Katz-Salamon, M. et al. The stress of birth modifies the response to pain during the first hours after birth. Pediatr Res 45, 892 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199906000-00052
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199906000-00052
