Infant Behavior, Maternal Psychological Reaction, and Mother-Infant Interactional Issues Associated With the Crisis or Prematurity:

The purpose of this paper is to selectively review the literature concerning premature infant behavior, maternal psychological reactions to prematurity, and premature infant-mother patterns of interaction. The review is primarily limited to the first year of the premature infant's life. The literature suggests that the behavior of premature infants is significantly different from full-term infants during the first year. The ability of a mother to nurture a premature infant is hampered by a number of factors such as prolonged parent-infant separation and anticipatory grief. Maternal-infant interactional problems commonly exist during the first year but resolve through a process of infant-mother adaptation. A developmental model of premature infant-parent interaction is discussed. General intervention strategies for enhancing the infant parent dyad are suggested.