A systematic review of cardiac autonomic modulation in mothers and their infants

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review of the publications that have examined cardiac auto- nomic modulation and to verify how the relationship between mothers and preterm infants can influence cardiac autonomic parameters. Method: The articles identified by the search strategy were assessed independently and blinded by two researchers, strictly adhering to the next inclusion criteria: (1) published between 01/01/2004 and 06/02/2014; (2) written in English; (3) had an available abstract; and (4) pertained to the mothers and/or their premature babies. Results: Of 83 publications originally found, 5 eligible studies were ultimately identified. Of these five articles pertaining to Heart Rate Variability, two articles studied preterm infants, two articles studied a sample of mothers and one article evalu- ated the association between Heart Rate Variability and mothers of preterm infants.