Facial Expression A mother's facial expression may demonstrate concern about the infant's general condition. Although mothers feel glad when they see the infant, they also grieve because the premature infant is sick and does not fit the image of the robust full-term infant. Mothers may lose their normal frame of reference for the development of their own role expectation and
the expectation of their infant, resulting in emotional responses. In this study, some mothers' responses clearly reflect the emotional conflict: