All study procedures were approved by the Committee
on Human Research Protection. Nurses provided
mothers with an information sheet about the project.
The study was presented as a research project to better
understand infant responses to the physical care they
received during hospitalization. Mothers who were interested
in participating called a number on the information
sheet or told a nurse on the unit who then
contacted the research team for follow-up with the
mother. After the mother was fully informed, consent
was acquired and the mother was given a demographic
questionnaire to complete. Medical records were reviewed
by a clinical nurse specialist to identify illicit
drug exposure, birthweight, and gestational age, and to
complete a checklist of hazardous medical events during
the infant’s first 2 weeks of life. Another neonatal/
pediatric nurse observed the infant for responses to
touch during receipt of caregiving on 4 separate occasions,
coding behavioral and physiological responses on
standardized forms that were then used to complete a
single measure of infant TV. The mother was asked to
complete a questionnaire regarding her own attitudes
about and experiences with physical contact.