Facilitating Emotional Connections Between Mothers and Premature Infants

A nurture-based intervention improved the quality of maternal caregiving behavior in the NICU.

A premature birth is a major psychosocial detour from a normal birthing and hospitalization experience and presents barriers to critical mother-baby social interactions. Maternal caregiving behavior in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) moderates the emotional connection between mother and baby.

To assess the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate high-quality maternal-infant interactions in the NICU, researchers randomized 65 mothers and their premature infants (mean gestational age, 30 weeks; range, 26–34 weeks) to the Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) or standard care. FNI began shortly after birth and continued until hospital discharge and involved mother-infant calming sessions with a nurse specialist for about 6 hours weekly…

Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics