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Biomedical subjects

M A Trause

Publications and source records attributed to M A Trause.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

The effects of premature birth on parents and their relationship.

This study examined the effects of a relatively low-risk premature birth on the parents and their relationship. The results indicate that the birth caused a crisis in the immediate postpartum period, but that distress decreased once the babies were at home. At one month and seven months after discharge, parents of both preterm and fullterm infants described their feelings in similar ways--the only difference at one month was that mothers of fullterm infants were more upset than those in the preterm group. Parents of preterm babies became more attuned to each other with time than did parents of fullterm infants, and only preterm mothers became pregnant within the 26 months following their first baby's birth. Mothers in both groups rated themselves as more distressed than fathers throughout the study period, which suggests that within the low-risk preterm sample, becoming a mother for the first time had more impact than did giving birth prematurely.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1981

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 temper tantrums, excessive activity and sleep problems in both groups. Children, however, who visited were initially significantly more responsive to their mothers and new siblings.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Stranger responses: effects of familiarity, stranger's approach, and sex of infant.

Most investigators examining contextual influences on infant responses to a stranger have limited their study to the initial responses of the infant. Few have considered infant reactions beyond the first minutes of the encounter or the enduring effects of contextual variables once mothers have left. The present study examines the effects of stranger's style of approach, familiarity with the stranger, and infant sex on infant response before and after maternal separation. Familiarity was operationalized in 2 ways: the length of time mothers stayed before leaving infants with the stranger and meeting the stranger a second time. Findings suggest that all these factors influence infant behavior. Ifants looked and smiled at the stranger significantly more when approached slowly. Contrary to expectations, infants (particularly girls) who met the familiar stranger after 1 week protested significantly more when left with her at that time. Trends indicate the length of time mothers stayed was least influential since most infants became extremely distressed once mothers departed.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1975

Does human maternal behaviour after delivery show a characteristic pattern?

Specific kinds of maternal behaviour such as nesting, retrieving, grooming and exploring, are seen in non-human mammalian mothers immediately before, during and after delivery. In this study 22 human mothers were filmed during the first 10 minutes of contact with their normal nude full-term infants, who were placed beside them in private rooms in hospitals in Guatemala and the US; and nine mothers of premature infants were filmed on their first three visits to the nursery. Another 10 Guatemalan mothers and infants were observed for 10 minutes almost immediately after delivery in hospital. These observations were compared to maternal behaviour after home deliveries in California. After hospital delivery all US mothers, but only half of the Guatemalans, began touching their infants' extremities with their fingertips and proceeded within a few minutes to palm contact on the trunk. US mothers had an intense interest in eye-to-eye contact. Mothers of premature infants showed only fragments of this behaviour. In home births when the mothers are active participants in delivery, they pick up the infant immediately after birth, stroke its face with their fingertips and start breast-feeding within the first minutes after delivery. Initially the infant only licks the nipples. there is striking elevation in mood in the parents. These observations focus attention on reciprocal behaviour patterns that develop early between mother and infant and which serve to unite them.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Evidence for a sensitive period in the human mother.

In certain animal species immediate separation of a mother from here young for a brief period after deliver (the sensitive period) may result in aberrant maternal behaviour. In the human, disorders of mothering, including child abuse, increase disproportionately in situations associated with early neonatal separation of mother and infant, such as prematurity. Mothers in the United States who were offered early contact with their premature infants showed differences in attachment behaviour when compared with mothers whose first contact with their infants was three weeks after delivery. Mothers who had one hour of close physical contact with their nude full-term infants within the first two hours after delivery and who had 15 extra hours of contact in the frist three days behaved significantly differently during a physical examination of the infant at one month and one year, and in their speech to their infants at two years, from a control group of mothers who had only routine contact. In a similar study in Guatemala, mothers who had 45 minutes of early extra contact showed significantly more attachment behaviour at the time of the first breast-feeding (12 hours). These and other studies in the human suggest that shortly after birth there is a sensitive period which appears to have long-lasting effects on maternal attachment and which may ultimately affect the development of the child.

Auditory Perception↗