THE EFFECT OF BABY MASSAGES ON BABY’S WEIGHT IN PRATAMA KUSUMA MEDISCA CLINIC IN WATES, YOGYAKARTA

Abstract

The optimization of growth and development on children are the results of interaction of various factors which are related to each other. Those factors include genetic, environment, behavior and stimulation. One of the stimulations is a tactile stimulation in the form of baby massage. Baby massages can increase the activity of nervus vagus which causes the production growth of enzyme gastrin and insulin so that the absorption of foods will be improved and affect on baby’s weight. The purpose of this research was to understand the effect of baby massages on baby’s weight. This research was conducted using quasi-experimental method with two group post-test design as the control. The subjects of this research were 66 babies who were 0-1 month of age as 33 babies were case group, while the 33 others were control group. The samples were collected using purposive sampling technique with inclusion and exclusion criteria. The baby massages intervention was conducted three times in a month and a weight measuring was done every week for a month with a specified scale. The data were analyzed using independent sample t-test. There is an effect of baby massage towards the increase in babies’ weight (p-value 0,007<0,05). Then, there was also an effect of baby massage towards the percentage of the increase in babies’ weight (p-value was 0.005 < 0.05). There are some effects of baby massages on baby’s weight in Pratama Kusuma Medisca clinic in Wates, Yogyakarta

Keywords: baby massage, increase of weight