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Sunflower seed oil massage stops infection

by Sarah Gilbert (Subscribe to Sarah Gilbert's posts)
Mar 3rd 2005 5:34PM

Filed under: Your Pregnancy, Health & Safety: Babies

For babies born prematurely, and low birth weight babies, a sunflower seed oil massage three times daily lowered the risk of infection by up to 60%, according to new research. The study compared the effects of massage with sunflower seed oil, a petroleum-based ointment called Aquaphor, or no intervention on 497 premature or low birth weight babies. The babies with sunflower seed oil and Aquaphor treatments had seven infections per 100 days in the hospital, compared to 11 infections per 100 days for the babies who had no intervention. As sunflower seed oil is much cheaper and more widely available, doctors are suggesting its use in many developing nations.