Hug Your Baby
          Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tuesday February 1, 2000

      Few parents need persuading when it comes to hugging their newborns,but a new study suggests that encouraging them to do so can help reduce babies' pain during a standard medical test.
     Shortly after birth, tests are done on blood drawn from a baby's heel after it is pierced with a lance.  A new study in the journal Pediatrics reported that the pain could be reduced if the baby experienced a skin-to-skin hug with the mother during lancing.  Dr Larry Gray, a Boston University pediatrician, and colleagues videotaped 30 babies and measured their heart rates as the blood was drawn.  Those being hugged cried and grimaced less and had a smaller heart rate increase than their counterparts.