The Effect of Safe Swaddling After Bathing on Stress and Comfort in Newborns

January 26, 2026 updated by: Funda Kardas Ozdemir
The research will be conducted experimentally in the form of randomized controlled studies to determine the effect of safe swaddling of newborns after bathing on stress and comfort. The population of the research consists of newborns receiving treatment and care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a State Hospital located in the north of Turkey, and the sample consists of 72 babies who meet the sample selection criteria. Descriptive Characteristics Form, Newborn Stress Scale and Newborn Comfort Behavior Scale were used to collect data. Babies will be bathed in the bathtub and then swaddled. The baby will be placed in the incubator and kept for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the swaddle will be opened quietly and slowly, without disturbing the body posture. Stress and comfort scores will be given by two observers by video recording the babies before bathing, before swaddling and after swaddling.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Baby bathing is a nursing intervention with individual benefits. Today, there are ongoing discussions about when the infant bath, which is an important part of skin care, should be done first. However, the World Health Organization recommends not bathing newborns for the first 24 hours and waiting until vital signs stabilized. Postponing the bathing of newborns to 48 hours after birth is both effective in maintaining the baby's body temperature and improves skin integrity. Since the thermoregulation abilities of newborns are very limited, it is necessary to maintain body temperature, provide appropriate environmental conditions and warming after bathing.

Although the bathing process, which is an important part of hospital care, protects the health of the newborn, it is also a stressful action for babies and stress symptoms are observed in these babies after bathing. Swaddling the baby in stressful situations such as bathing contributes to the baby's self-calming. The swaddling technique mimics the uterus for newborns and is a technique that ensures the continuation of the intrauterine environment.

Neonatal nursing has come to the forefront in recent years with the development of strategies that increase comfort and has become a frequently used concept in neonatal intensive care units.Among the interventions frequently applied by pediatric nurses to increase comfort are practices such as relaxing positioning, massage, bathing, and wrapping.The practices of nurses to increase the comfort level of the baby and reduce stress with practices with increased level of evidence are very important in terms of nursing care and physical and neuromotor development of the bab.In the light of all this information, this study was planned to investigate the effect of safe swaddling after bathing on stress and comfort in newborns.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
72

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Funda Kardaş Özdemir, PhD
  • Phone Number: +905444669752
  • Email: fkardas@gmail.com

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The week of gestation is between 37 and 41 weeks,
  • Birth weight being 2500 g and above,
  • Having spontaneous breathing,
  • Its physiological parameters are stable,
  • Having completed the first 24 hours of life,
  • No invasive interventions should be made before the bathing process.

Exclusion Criteria:

Preterms with a gestational age of 22-37 weeks,

  • Connected to mechanical ventilator,
  • Those who have been wiped or bathed in the last 12 hours,
  • Within the first 78 hours of the post-operative period,
  • With central catheter,
  • Diagnosed with sepsis,
  • Those who use sedative and/or muscle relaxants,
  • Those with congenital, chromosomal anomalies,

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Swaddling after bath group
Newborns in this group will be swaddled safely after bath.
Other: Swaddling after bath group

The babies were bathed in the bathtub. Then swaddling was done. The baby was taken into the incubator and waited for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, the swaddle was opened quietly and slowly, without disturbing the body posture. Stress and comfort scores were given by two observers by video recording the babies before bathing, before swaddling and after swaddling.

Newborns' stress will be assessed with the Newborn Stress Scale and their comfort with the Newborn Comfort Behavior Scale.
No Intervention: No swaddling after bath group
No action will be taken after bath.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
change in stress
Time Frame: 15th minute after the procedure
The Newborn Stress scale will be used to evaluate stress in babies. The scale consists of 8 subgroups including facial expression, body color, respiration, activity level, consolability, muscle tone, extremities and posture, and a total of 24 items in a 3-point Likert type. In scoring, each subgroup is evaluated between 0-2 points. The minimum score obtained from the scale is 0 points and the maximum is 16 points. An increase in the score indicates that the baby's stress level has increased. A change in stress is expected through safe swaddling after bathing compared to before bathing.
15th minute after the procedure
change in comfort
Time Frame: 15th minute after the procedure
Newborn Comfort Behavior Scale (COMFORTneo) will be used to evaluate comfort in babies. It has been stated that the lowest score that can be obtained from the Newborn Comfort Behavior Scale is 6 and the highest score is 30. High scores indicate that the baby is not comfortable and needs interventions to provide comfort. A change in comfort is expected after bathing compared to before bathing through safe swaddling.
15th minute after the procedure

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Funda Kardas Ozdemir

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Kübra Sevgi, RN, Kafkas Üniversity
  • Study Director: Funda Kardaş Özdemir, PhD, Kafkas Üniversity

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 15, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 15, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 24, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 6, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 26, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Funda1

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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