The Effect of Maternal Voice and Music Therapy on Pain and Stress During Heel Prick Testing in Newborns

During the adaptation process to the extrauterine environment, healthy newborns face procedures such as hepatitis B vaccination, vitamin K injection, blood sugar monitoring, bilirubin or metabolic disease screening. Heel prick blood sampling, performed for diagnostic purposes, is one of the most frequently performed procedures on newborns. Studies show that heel prick blood sampling holds an important place among invasive procedures performed on newborns. The heel prick blood sampling procedure, frequently performed on newborns, is... It has been reported that pain perception causes stress, and consequently, an increase in heart rate (HR) and blood pressure, a decrease in oxygen saturation (SpO2), and crying Following routine invasive procedures that cause pain, such as heel prick blood tests, children may experience negative physiological, metabolic, and behavioral responses as stress, duration, and intensity of pain increase. Increases in heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure are observed due to the release of catecholamines, glucagon, and steroids following painful stimuli, and these physiological changes observed in response to pain are thought to play a role in initiating ischemic changes by leading to intraventricular hemorrhage and white matter damage around the ventricle. If pain is not effectively relieved or eliminated during this period, it can lead to neurological and behavioral disorders in later stages. Excessive and prolonged pain, particularly that resulting from invasive procedures, causes behavioral stress and physiological imbalances. It is believed that any painful invasive procedure can hinder a child's behavior, feeding habits, interaction with the mother, and adaptation to the environment. Furthermore, experiencing pain can influence subsequent pain behaviors, leading to a lifelong sensitivity to pain in the child. To reduce the effects of invasive procedures on newborns, effective pain management is divided into two categories: pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Non-pharmacological pain management strategies in children are defined as any strategy or technique applied to a child in pain to reduce their experience of pain. Recorded maternal voice and maternal heartbeat listening, music therapy are some of the non-pharmacological methods used in children. Music therapy is noted as one of the non-pharmacological methods widely used in postoperative analgesia, possessing effects such as increasing endorphin release, reducing catecholamine levels and thus decreasing the need for analgesics, stabilizing heart rhythm and respiratory rate, maintaining hemodynamic balance, influencing regional cardiac activity, and lowering blood pressure.