Increasing comfort and physiological stabilization in preterm infants during neonatal care improves their neurophysiological development. Hence, bathing procedures should not expose the newborn to stress.

The aim of a study published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies was to examine the effectiveness of tub bathing and sponge bathing methods on the physiological parameters – heart rate, respiration rate, oxygen saturation and body temperature, and comfort of late preterm infants.

This was a randomized controlled trial conducted in a neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital in Turkey. The study included 120 late preterm infants – of gestational age between 34 0/7 weeks and 36 6/7 weeks, who were equally divided into to either an intervention (tub bath) or control group (sponge bath). Physiological parameters and comfort of preterm infants in both groups were evaluated at 10 min before bath; infant comfort was reevaluated 10 min after the procedure while physiological parameters were reevaluated after 15 and 30 min.

The findings revealed that the two groups did not differ in gestational age, sex, weight or other demographic variables. Tub bathing was more effective in rendering more comfortable preterm infants and reducing the heart rate, than sponge bathing. Preterm infants in the tub bathing group maintained their body temperature better than those in the sponge bathing group. Meanwhile, there was no difference in oxygen saturation or respiratory rate between the tub and sponge bathing groups.

From the results, it was inferred that tub bathing is a safer, more pleasurable/comfortable bathing option and is the recommended method for bathing healthy, late preterm infants.

Source: International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2019 Nov;99:103377. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.06.008.