The Safety of Body Wraps on Skin-to-Skin Care in the Neonatal Population: A Pilot Study.

Background: Despite well-established benefits of skin-to-skin care (SSC) for preterm infants and parents, standardized guidelines for implementation do not exist. Furthermore, the literature offers little evidence-based information to guide best practice.

Purpose: To discover whether SSC using a body wrap to hold preterm infants would increase the duration of SSC, decrease parental stress during SSC, and minimize adverse events to ensure that body wraps are safe and feasible.

Methods: Twenty-nine dyads of parents and preterm infants younger than 34 weeks postmenstrual age were enrolled. The first 15 dyads to meet inclusion criteria were assigned to a standard of care group for SSC with no body wrap. The remaining 14 dyads were assigned to an experimental group for SSC with a body wrap. Each dyad performed 2 SSC holds. Parents completed the Parental Stressor Scale and Parent Feedback Form. Adverse events were also documented.

Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups in total SSC time ( P = .33), the number of adverse events ( P = .31 for major events; P = .38 for minor events), average parental stress ( P = .22), and parental confidence performing SSC ( P = .18).

Implications for practice and research: This study found that SSC with a body wrap is safe for preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This is the first study to explore the use, safety, and effectiveness of body wraps during SSC with preterm infants in an NICU. Future research should be conducted with larger sample sizes to further evaluate the safety and efficacy.