Maternal Sensitivity to Infant Cues: The Effects of Learning Infant Massage

Graduation Date

2005

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Document Form

Print

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Nursing

Department or Program Chair

Barbara Ganley, PhD

Thesis Advisor

Luanne Linnard-Palmer, EdD, RN

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine if the participation in an infant massage class would improve a first mother’s ability to recognize her infant’s communication cues. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized. A convenience sample of first time mothers aged 20 to 45 years with infants aged 2 to 6 months was screened. Data were analyzed using SPSS Graduate Pack, Version 12.0 for Windows. A total of 8 mothers and infants were screened. The mothers’ ability to recognize their infants communication cues was improved by 3% from the pre-test to post-test. There was improvement of the mothers’ ability to recognize their infants’ communication cues after participating in the four week infant massage class. Additional exploration of the study with a larger sample would be needed to generalize the results to a larger population.

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