Kattwinkel and colleagues33 provided 5 minutes of stroking
3 times each hour for 3 hours to 6 preterm infants who were
26 to 31 weeks of GA at birth, and 2 to 35 days old at the
time of the intervention. Infants had decreased apnea during
the intervention periods. Daga and colleagues studied
the effects of maternal stroking of the infant’s back during
alternate gavage feedings on 7 preterm infants who were
less than 32 weeks of GA. Oxygen saturation levels were
significantly higher in infants who received the stroking at
20 and 30 minutes after the feeding, compared with infants
in a control group.