The Impact of a Newborn Behavioral Intervention on the Mental Health of Mothers With Late Pre-Term Infants

Preterm birth is a serious public health issue, affecting 10% of all births in the US alone. Three quarters of these infants are born between 34 0/7 and 36 6⁄7 weeks' gestation or late-preterm (LP). Mothers of LP infants are at increased risk for postpartum stress, depression and mother-infant interaction problems posing significant risks for infant development. Our proposed project will advance the fields of maternal and child health by examining the impact of the Newborn Behavioral Observations Family Wellness (NBO-FW), a dyadic, two generational intervention targeting maternal wellbeing and early mother-infant relations in families of LP born infants. The NBO-FW is a 12week preventative intervention aimed at promoting maternal mental health and positive parenting. It is based on the highly successful NBO intervention developed by our team and applied across five continents, but with important new elements targeting maternal mental health and the needs of high-risk LP infants and their families. Participants will consist of 200 first-time mothers and their LP infants (100 intervention and 100 control dyads) born at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), an urban teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest maternity care provider in Boston. Data will be collected at three time points: during the birth hospitalization, at a follow-up visit at 4-6 weeks corrected gestational age, and at a further visit 10-12 weeks after birth. Outcomes will include standardized measures of maternal stress, depression, parenting confidence, and observed mother-infant interaction. Information about infant health care practices and maternal/infant health will also be recorded. We hypothesize that, compared to mothers in the care as usual control group, first-time mothers of LP infants who receive the NBO-FW will demonstrate a) lower levels of stress and depression, b) greater parenting confidence, c) higher quality interactions with their infants (e.g., positive affect, sensitivity, responsiveness, emotional connection); and (d) engage in more optimal infant health care practices.