Parents and nurses report that one of the hardest things about having a premature baby in neonatal intensive care is the number of invasive and painful medical procedures the babies have to endure. However, a new study has one method for easing some of that preemie pain, and it's pretty simple and cost-effective, if you ask me.

So what's the miracle way to soothe the littlest infants? Being cuddled tightly against mom's bare skin. Doesn't that sound nice? I think I'm regressing just thinking about it. Anyhow, the cuddling, known as "kangaroo mother care," had been shown in past studies to help older infants recover from pain, but preemies had not yet been studied. The researchers found that premature infants who got kangaroo mother care before and after a heel lance procedure recovered in about a minute and a half, while babies placed in incubators were still suffering more than three minutes after the procedure. This delay could have an impact on preterm baby health, according to the researchers. Plus, um, if it's at all feasible, how can you go wrong with a good snuggle?