[Source: Science Daily]

Being held by a parent with skin-to-skin contact reduces how strongly a newborn baby’s brain responds to a painful medical jab, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and York University, Canada.

The scientists report in the European Journal of Pain that there was more activity in the brains of newborn babies in reaction to the pain when a parent was holding them through clothing, than without clothing.

Joint senior author, Dr Lorenzo Fabrizi (UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology) said: “We have found when a baby is held by their parent, with skin-on-skin contact, the higher-level brain processing in response to pain is somewhat dampened. The baby’s brain is also using a different pathway to process its response to pain.

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