Breast feeding for pain relief during Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination in term neonates

Aim: to assess the efficacy of breastfeeding for pain relief during bacillus calmette-guérin (bcg) vaccination in term neonates. study design: randomized,controlled trial. place and duration of study: this study was conducted at cmh lahore from jan. 2013 to june 2013. subjects and methods: a sample of full-term neonates was randomly allocated into two groups. neonates in the breast feeding group were breastfed two minutes before,during,and after the bcg immunization and the control group were given injections on treatment table with mother holding the infant. pain was assessed using the douleur aiguë du nouveau-né (dan) scale measuring facial expressions,limb movements and vocal expressions. results: one hundred fifty healthy full-term neonates were studied (75 in the breast feeding group and 75 in the control group). the mean total pain score as measured by the dan scale was 3.55 (sd = 1.61) for the experimental group and it was 6.80 (sd = 1.88) for the controls indicating a significant lower pain score for the breast fed group (p<0.001). conclusion: breastfeeding is effective in pain reduction during immunization procedure in neonates.