Emotional connection with the parent can improve brain development of the preterm baby

A joint study by the University of Helsinki and Columbia University showed that supporting emotional connection between mother and her premature baby following birth in the hospital intensive care unit improves the baby's brain development.

In the current study, the brain network functions of premature infants were measured at term age, following approximately 6 weeks of Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) in the neonatal intensive care unit. All babies received normal high-standard premature care, but some families were given additional FNI to strengthen mother-infant emotional connection.

The study showed that such parental support during the intensive care treatment removed the developmental abnormalities in brain function that are typically seen in the prematurely born infants. 3The brain network function of the premature infants in the treatment group were not different from their control peers that were born at the normal term age.

"Treatment of premature babies in the intensive care unit has improved enormously, but supporting brain development is still a global challenge. Along with treatment innovations, better methods are needed to measure how the new treatments directly affect the developing child's brain," said Professor Sampsa Vanhatalo, who led the research.

Reference:

Sampsa Vanhatalo et al,Facilitating early parent-infant emotional connection improves cortical networks in preterm infants,Science Translational Medicine,DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abq4786