Early Interventions and Pediatric Practice

An intervention study using the Brazelton Neonatal Behaviour Assessment Scale (BNBAS) was carried out on 60 primiparous low to medium-class Portuguese mothers. Its aim was to reinforce the mothers’ skills through active learning of some of their babies’ competences. Intervention in the experimental group was made on the third day after delivery and consisted of the assessment of items in the BNBAS such as visual and auditory orientation, consolability with intervention, and cuddliness. The intervention took the form of seven minutes of demonstration to the mothers allied with their active participation. Maternal adjustment and perception of their babies were assessed through specific questionnaires. BNBAS assessment of the babies was performed on the third and twenty-eighth days. Development assessments, through the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID), took place at the third and sixth months. Better results for the experimental group were obtained, especially on aspects concerned with the BNBAS items used in the intervention and those related with mental infant development. A longitudinal perspective of the assessment of babies’ development and behavior is discussed with particular reference to the first six months although this research is designed to examine the intervention effects during the first two years of life.