Rooming-in Reduces Salivary Cortisol Level of Newborn

Abstract EN

Background.

Rooming-in practice improves breastfeeding and reduces newborn stress reactivity.

When this modality is not available, partial rooming-in after birth can be considered.

Salivary cortisol levels (SCLs) are considered reliable biomarkers to indicate stress.

Objective.

To test the hypothesis that rooming-in duration impacts neonatal stress response in hospitalized newborns.

Design/methods.

Forty term newborns, enrolled in the Neonatology and Obstetrics Nursing, C.G.

Ruesch, Naples, Italy, were divided, according to the mother’s choice, into the study (SG; n=20) and control (CG; n=20) groups if they received full (24 hs) or partial (14 hs) rooming-in care, respectively.

Saliva samples were collected from all babies between 7:00 a.m.

and 8:00 a.m.

of the 3rd day of life by using oral swab.

Salivary cortisol levels were measured using an enzyme immunoassay kit (Salimetrics LLC, PA, USA).

Results.

A statistically significant difference in the SCLs between SG and CG was found (median: 258 ng/dl versus 488.5 ng/dl; p=0.048).

Conclusions.

Data support the practice of full rooming-in care compared with partial rooming-in.

The rooming-in duration clearly reduces SCLs and likely neonatal stress.

These lower SCLs may have long-term positive effects reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and cognitive and behavioural changes.