“New research to be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2016 Meeting suggests a key to easing the opioid withdrawal symptoms of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is to ensure parents can spend plenty of time at the baby’s bedside during treatment.
Lead author Mary Beth Howard, MD, MSc, of the Boston Children’s Hospital/Boston Medical Center Combined Residency Program said previous studies already established strong evidence that non-pharmacologic interventions such as breastfeeding can ease NAS symptoms. But underlying mechanisms related to why breastfeeding helps, she said, are less clear. It is hypothesized that the skin-to-skin contact during breastfeeding plays a role, with some prior research showing that having parents “room-in” or share a hospital room with babies undergoing NAS treatment decreases the need for pharmacologic therapy. She said this study supports the idea that a parent’s physical closeness has therapeutic effects on babies with NAS.”
Read more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160430100230.htm
Source: ScienceDaily.com – April 20, 2016
