Parental Perception on Neonatal Pain and Pain Management Practices In Special Care Nurseries

Abstract

Although pain in neonates remains sub-optimal globally, the situation is very dire in sub-Saharan countries like Kenya where all procedures are performed without any form of analgesia due to lack of resources to procure pharmacological analgesics. There, however, exist low-cost, mother-driven pain management strategies such as breastfeeding and kangaroo care that can be used for pain relief in babies in neonatal units in Kenya. The successful use of these interventions is, however, depended on parents’ perception about pain and how pain in their babies is managed during hospitalization. The aim of this systematic review was to describe parental perception about pain; and to describe parents’ perceptions about procedural pain management practices in neonatal units. Electronic searches were conducted on MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase and PsycINFO using the following search words: parent(s), perception(s), view(s), neonate, newborn, infant, pain, procedural pain, management, and practices. The search generated 101 articles four of which met the inclusion criteria. Parents believed their infants experienced a lot of pain and that the pain was often not adequately treated. Parents believe that infants undergo a lot of pain while in theneonatal unit without sufficient