Listy klinické logopedie 2025, 9(2):83-89 | DOI: 10.36833/lkl.2025.022

Craniosacral therapy for preterm neonates and infants

Mgr. Barbora Červenková, Ph.D.
Mgr. Barbora Červenková, Ph.D., University Hospital Brno, Department of Neonatology, Obilní trh 11, 620 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Institute of Special Education Studies, Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc, Žižkovo nám. 5, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic.

This pilot study evaluates changes in sensorimotor responses in premature infants after receiving craniosacral therapy. The study included a total of 63 infants born between 28 and 31 weeks of gestation. These infants underwent three craniosacral therapy treatments during their hospitalization. The assessment used a sensorimotor reactivity scale to evaluate eye contact, response to two-point static and kinetic tactile stimulation, turning onto the side, and willingness to grasp and suck an offered finger. Differences in gross scores between pairs of measurements for each item were tested at a 5% significance level using the Wilcoxon paired test. All differences within the evaluated items were statistically significant (p<0.05). The strongest effect of the statistically significant dependence was found in the eye contact item. This difference was more pronounced in bottle-fed infants than in breast-fed infants. Therefore, craniosacral therapy may have the potential to enhance self-regulation and promote healthy development in premature infants, but this finding needs to be supported by further research.

Keywords: craniosacral therapy, premature infants, sensorimotor reactivity, eye contact, self-regulation

Received: August 31, 2025; Revised: September 23, 2025; Accepted: October 4, 2025; Published: December 14, 2025  Show citation

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Červenková B. Craniosacral therapy for preterm neonates and infants. Listy klinické logopedie. 2025;9(2):83-89. doi: 10.36833/lkl.2025.022.
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