Right now babies born premature or sick have up to 50 painful procedures a day.
As recently as 30 years ago, surgical procedures were performed on premature babies without pain relief. It was believed by many at the time that a baby's nervous system was not mature enough to process pain.
It is now widely accepted that babies do experience pain and so pain-relief is now provided during surgery.
But essential medical procedures such as heel-pricks, injections and intubation (inserting a tube into the baby to help breathing or to deliver drugs) are routinely carried out without pain relief.
That's why Bliss is funding research to find out how best to manage and reduce babies pain.
Help ensure every baby's journey is as painless as possible. Donate now
Many people do not realise just how many medical procedures a premature baby goes through during their hospital stay - and how new the area of pain measurement and reduction is.
We're funding University of Oxford scientists to conduct this research for three years. We want to find accurate and reliable ways to measure babies' pain so that we can ensure every baby's journey in neonatal care is as painless as possible.
The average baby in neonatal care has around 10 medical procedures each day. Extremely premature babies, those born between 24 and 28 weeks gestation, can have up to 50 painful procedures every day.
Find out more about the project
£25000 target
£11450 raised
With your help we will improve neonatal care with better pain management and investigate whether a parent's soothing touch is an effective way to relieve their babies' pain.
Donate now