Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41672603›Full record

Trial reportBMJ paediatrics open2026

Immediate skin-to-skin contact at very preterm birth and effect on infant socio-emotional stress response and mother-infant cortisol co-regulation: secondary outcomes from the randomised clinical Immediate Parent-Infant Skin-To-Skin Study (IPISTOSS).

Karoline Lode-Kolz, Siri Lillieskold, Hanne Brit Hetland, Eleonora Mascheroni, Stina Klemming, Hanne Pike, Agnes Linner, Nils J Bergman, Bjorn Westrup, Ulrika Ådén and 4 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ paediatrics open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Karoline Lode-KolzDepartment of Clinical Neurophysiology and Department of Paediatrics, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway karoline.cecilie.lode@sus.no.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3240-5016
Siri LillieskoldDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Hanne Brit HetlandDepartment of Biostatistics, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
Eleonora Mascheroni0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Italy.
Stina KlemmingLund-Malmö NIDCAP Training and Research Center, Department of Neonatology, Skanes universitetssjukhus Lund, Lund, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-9644-6855
Hanne PikeFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
Agnes LinnerDepartment of Neonatology, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Nils J BergmanDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Bjorn WestrupDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ulrika ÅdénDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Evalotte MoreliusDepartment of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linkoping, Sweden.
Rosario Montirosso0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Italy.
Wibke Jonas *Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Siren Rettedal *Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0462-0659

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo explore the effects of immediate parent-infant skin-to-skin contact (iSSC) at very preterm birth on maternal-infant behavioural responses and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to age-appropriate socio-emotional stress at 4 months corrected age.

designTwo secondary outcomes from a multicentre randomised controlled trial with two non-blinded parallel groups.

settingThree Scandinavian neonatal intensive care units, level 2 and level 3.

participants91 infants born at gestational age 28+0 to 32+6 from April 2018 to June 2021. Singletons and twins with a second caregiver present were included, regardless of mode of birth. Higher-order births, infants with congenital infections and major malformations were excluded.

interventionInfants were randomised before birth to iSSC (n=46) or conventional care (n=45) during the first 6 hours of life. At 4 months corrected age, the infants were exposed to socio-emotional stress using the Face-to-Face Still-Face procedure (FFSF). Salivary cortisol was collected before and after FFSF.

main outcome measuresBehavioural and hormonal stress responses at 4 months of age.

results65 of 91 infants were assessed by FFSF, of which 37 infants had cortisol sampling. The iSSC group demonstrated heightened positive emotionality during FFSF compared with controls (beta 0.74, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.07; p<0.001). Also, the iSSC group showed an association between mother-infant cortisol levels at baseline (r 0.55, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.80; p=0.014) and 30 min post-FFSF (r 0.55, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.83; p=0.035).

conclusionInfants who experienced iSSC during the first 6 hours after very preterm birth showed improved infant socio-emotional stress coping and suggested enhanced mother-infant HPA axis synchrony at 4 months.

Indexed as

HydrocortisoneInfant, Extremely PrematureKangaroo-Mother Care MethodMother-Child RelationsStress, PsychologicalAdultFemaleHumansHypothalamo-Hypophyseal SystemInfantInfant, NewbornMalePituitary-Adrenal SystemSalivaHydrocortisoneEndocrinologyIntensive Care Units, NeonatalNeonatologyPsychology

Identifiers

PMID41672603
PMCPMC12911832

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.