MATERNAL BEHAVIOR DURING INTERACTION WITH PREMATURE INFANTS

Abstract

A trend from infant oriented to non-infant oriented maternal behaviors has been described during the breast feeding (bf) of term infants over the first month of life. The present study describes maternal contact behavior in 10 mother-premature infant (m BW 1078gm) pairs during early bf and play interaction. Play sessions were begun when each infant was medically stable and continued weekly until discharge (with 1 follow-up visit). Bf was begun at a mean of 1300gm (mean age = 33 days) and observed weekly to discharge. 11 separate maternal behaviors were scored by a time sampling technique from 10 min videotape recordings of the sessions. Preliminary results (from 6 dyads) suggest (1) the total number of maternal behaviors during play and bf remain constant over time for each mother; but (2) the types of maternal behavior changes, shifting from infant oriented to non-infant oriented. For example, in examinations of play interactions at three points in time (1st play, last-in-hospital, follow-up), the percentage of time spent in en-face holding decreases over time (Friedman (2 df) = 6.58; p<.05), while maternal looking away behaviors increase (Fr (2) = 6.33; p<.05). Four in-hospital breastfeeding sessions were also compared: over time, maternal looking away behaviors increase (Fr (3) = 12.20; p<.01). Results indicate that the developmental sequence of interaction between premature infants and mothers is similar to that which occurs with term baby-mother dyads.