Prenatal Education About Infant Immunization Pain Management

There is ample literature outlining effective pain management strategies for immunization including psychological, physical and pharmacological interventions; however their use in clinical practice has been limited. Teaching parents about these strategies in an enriching setting such as prenatal education classes has the potential to increase utilization of these strategies, and empower parents to take on a more active role in the management of their infant's pain during routine immunization. Educating parents about pain-management for infant immunization has not been previously investigated in this setting. The aim of this cluster-randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of an immunization pain-management education module added to the prenatal education program at Mount Sinai Hospital on parental knowledge and behaviour regarding pain management during routine 2-month infant immunization injections.

Inclusion criteria

• mothers attending weekend prenatal classes
• delivery of a healthy newborn > 35 weeks gestational age
• available for followup for infant's 2-month immunization

Exclusion criteria

• mothers who do not plan to immunize their infants
• infant with major birth defect or hospitalized at time of immunization
• mothers who need to attend the prenatal class at a separate time when education not offered