Mary Anne Trause

Separation for childbirth: The effect on the sibling

The reactions of 14 young (one to three and one-half years) first born children to the routine two to six day separation associated with maternal childbirth were compared with 17 children permitted to visit their mothers in hospital for one hour per day. Behavior observations in the home one to two weeks after birth compared to those made two to four weeks before birth as well as maternal questionnaires revealed significant increases in tekmper tantrums, excessive activity and sleep problems in both groups. Children, however, who sisited were initially significantly more responsive to their mothers and new siblings.

76 A FRESH LOOK AT EARLY MOTHER-INFANT CONTACT

Mothers who have early infant contact later behave differently with their infants than mothers with routine separation. Are these differences the result of the state of mother and infant? To determine the effects of maternal wakefulness during early contact 14 mothers who had their undressed babies in their beds for one hour within the first 3 hours after birth were compared to 14 mothers with routine contact. Early contact mothers were divided into 2 subgroups:those who fell asleep within 30 minutes of the beginning of their contact(n=6)and those who stayed awake (n=8).Using time-lapse photography,comparisons of maternal behavior were made:1)while early contact mothers were awake during the first 10 minutes of contact and 2)during feeding at one month. In the first 10 minutes mothers who later fell asleep touched(p<.005) and looked at their babies significantly less (p<.005). Also the more mothers looked at their babies during the first 10 minutes, the less likely the mothers were to fall asleep by 30 minutes(r=.65,p<.01).During a feeding at 1 month,mothers who remained awake showed significantly more en face(p<.01) and fondling(p<.01)than those who had fallen asleep and were similar to the 14 mothers with later contact(suggesting that maternal wakefulness during early contact is associated with later behavior).Mothers who stayed awake had received larger doses of analgesic drugs closer to the time of delivery.It is not known whether it is maternal state,motivation,intrapartum medication or infant state that mediate these differences at 1 month.