Objective  To explore the effect of self-made waterbed "bird′s nest"combined with postural comfort nursing on early vital signs of premature infants.

  Methods  Totally 80 premature infants were divided into observation group (self-made "bird′s nest"combined with postural comfort nursing) and control group (traditional "bird′s nest"). The recovery time of body temperature, temperature change every 4 hours, the frequency of apnea and the change of heart rate within 24 hours were compared between the two groups.

  Results  The recovery time to normal body temperature in the observation group was (3.21±0.73) h, which was significantly shorter than (5.48±0.51) h in the control group (P < 0.01). The number of children with apnea 0, 1, 2 and 3 times in the observation group was 29, 7, 4 and 0 cases respectively, and those in the control group was 19, 8, 9 and 4 cases respectively, and there were significant differences between two groups (P < 0.05). The average of body temperature in the observation group was (36.64±0.51) centigrade every 4 hours, which was lower than (36.88±0.33) centigrade in the control group (P < 0.05). The change of heart rate in the observation group was (130.75 ±19.72) times per minute, which was significantly lower than (151.60±11.38) times per minute in the control group (P < 0.01).

  Conclusion  The self-made waterbed "Bird's Nest" combined with postural comfort nursing measures is easy to operate and has a significant significance for stabilizing the early vital signs of premature infants.