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Notes from the Field
Submitted by Shirley Hobbs, RN I recently completed a newborn behavioral observation (NBO) session with a 15-year-old, first time mother. Her mother was also present. The grandmother has 4 children, and this was her first grandchild. The infant is male, born full term, with no complications at birth. Both mom and grandmother were very engaged during the session and noticed every tiny grunt and movement that their new treasure made. The baby was sleeping during the beginning of the observation. I attempted to disrupt his sleep by shining the flashlight across the infant's eyes, the baby startled and settled with ease. Then I attempted to disrupt his sleep with the rattle, with each shaking of the rattle the infant settled quicker. This simple exercise fascinated both mom and grandmother. The mom had been concerned about the house being too noisy for the baby when the other children were home from school. The mom soon realized that her son already had the ability to shut out the noise. Mom and I observed that initially, with the flashlight, the infant squinted his eyes then settled back to sleep. As I continued to attempt to disrupt his sleep by shaking the rattle, he moved his hands and feet. With the second shaking of the rattle, he had slight movement of his hands and then settled back to sleep. After that with the third shaking of the rattle he did not move, grimace, or respond at all, he continued in his sleep state. She was fascinated with her baby's capacity to habituate and gained a new understanding of how brilliant her new baby already was. |
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