How hugging and talking to preemie babies helps mom and dad feel better
Effects of home-based integrated sensory stimulation program to preterm infants on parents’ depression and anxiety: a randomized controlled trial
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 564 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 564 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Journal
Global Health Action
Year
2025
Authors
Wenjing Zheng, Rassamee Chotipanvithayakul, T. Ingviya, Fang Guo
Related Content
Claims (7)
Parents who do gentle sensory activities like touching and talking to their preemie during feeding for six months are much less likely to feel depressed after leaving the hospital.
Dads who spend time touching, talking to, and looking at their premature babies during feeding feel much less anxious after six months than dads who don’t.
Even if parents don’t do the sensory activities perfectly every day, just doing them during feeding a few times a day still helps them feel less stressed and depressed.
When parents use touch, voice, eye contact, smell, and feeding to connect with their preemie at home for six months, their anxiety and depression stay lower for the whole six months.
When parents gently touch, talk to, and look at their premature babies during feeding for six months, it helps both moms and dads feel much less anxious and stressed out.