Andréane Lavallée
Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte Justine
Domaine : santé de la mère, des enfants et des adolescents
Programme Formation de doctorat pour les détenteurs d'un diplôme professionnel
Concours 2018-2019
Partenaire :
Fondation des Étoiles
Parental sensitivity is a process by which mothers are able to recognize their infant's needs by interpreting his/her cues and responding to these cues promptly and adequately. A well-developed parental sensitivity predicts a secure long-term attachment for the child. Moreover, a secure attachment between the child and his mother would allow the child to develop optimally. In the context of a preterm birth, mothers may face barriers to the development of their parental sensitivity in the neonatal intensive care unit with their preterm infant. These barriers have been identified as being the stressful and challenging environment of the neonatal intensive care unit which restricts the participation of mothers in their preterm infant's care.
Otherwise, other barriers would be associated to the preterm infant's immaturity which translates into cues that are much different than term infant's cues. Therefore, interventions are needed to help these mother to quickly develop their parental sensitivity with their preterm infant in the neonatal intensive care unit. The purpose of this pilot randomized trial is to test a novel intervention involving mothers in the therapeutic positioning of their preterm infant. Acceptability and feasibility of the intervention will be assessed as well as preliminary effects on parental sensitivity and the preterm infant's neurodevelopment.