The effects of yakson or gentle human touch training given to mothers with preterm babies on attachment levels and the responses of the baby: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the effects of the yakson or gentle human touch methods applied by mothers on their preterm new-borns on the mother's attachment levels and the baby's response. The yakson and gentle human touch methods are touch-based methods where stimuli with stress-reducing effects are given to preterm new-borns. This study was conducted with 90 women and their new-borns (Yakson = 30, gentle human touch = 30, control = 30) who were hospitalized at the neonatal intensive care unit of a state hospital in Turkey between August 2016 and August 2017. As a result, it was determined that the yakson and gentle human touch methods practiced on the new-borns by their mothers increased mother-baby attachment, contributed to sleep-calmness states, vital signs and weight gain of the baby and reduced their durations of hospital stay. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2021.1958817 .