Interview with NBAS trainer, Karin Stjernqvist, conducted by Jessica Nagel at the 2002 International NBAS Trainers Conference at Children's Hospital, Boston.

When did you first learn about the NBAS?
I learned about the scale in 1982 when I was starting research on newborns and just came upon it when I reviewed the literature. After having learned about it, I contacted Hanne Munck and she brought me to Berlin in 1984 where I met with the entire Brazelton group.

How have you since incorporated it into your discipline?
In my research on development of extremely preterm infants, I used the scale. I have been building up a clinic for high-risk infants. I use it at the follow up clinic and in the NICU. I also teach the NBAS with my students.

Would you please share a vignette or meaningful moment you had while working with the NBAS?
In 1984, I was a trainee in Berlin and met a mother who was having her fourth child. I showed her the interactive items (auditory and visual) and she started to cry. She didn't realize that her first three children could see or hear her so she just let them sleep. When I came home and introduced the scale to my staff at the NICU, some of the nurses hadn't realized how much you can get out of a newborn and they saw just how much the scale could give them.

How do you conceive the role of the instrument in the future?
I think there is a larger demand for the scale in Europe because it really is the only instrument there and many people could use it as an intervention tool. I think it also should be standardized for future research.