Premature babies 'feel more pain'

Tests showed that pre-term infants that have spent at least 40 days in hospital feel pain more acutely than healthy new-borns.

Better pain relief should be given to premature babies under intensive care to prevent them becoming pain-sensitive, said the researchers writing in the journal NeuroImage.

Pre-term babies can spend months in intensive care units undergoing painful procedures such as injections and tube feeding.

Researchers measured the brain activity of babies with an electroencephalogram (EEG) while they underwent routine heel lancing to draw blood samples. Stronger EEG traces were seen for premature infants who had been in hospital for at least 40 days.