Effects of maternal visitation to preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Mothers' visitation of their preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may have important consequences for the optimal development of the mother-infant relationship. This study investigates whether directing mothers to make weekly appointments to visit the NICU would generalize to increase the frequency of independent maternal visitation as well as affect maternal perceptions of the infant and the infant's length of hospitalization. Assessments of mothers' perceptions of their infants were made at the initiation of the intervention program, immediately following the first maternal visit to the NICU, at discharge, and at a 6-week postdischarge follow-up. Results showed that the intervention program significantly increased the frequency of independent maternal visitation, decreased the mother's positive perceptions of her infant's behavior, and increased the mother's positive perceptions of her infant's prognosis for the future. Infants in the intervention group were hospitalized a significantly shorter period of time than infants in the control group. It is suggested that the mother's greater contact and familiarity with her infant, as a result of increased visitation, resulted in more realistic observations of her preterm infant's behavior and may have facilitated the recovery of the infant.