Newborn as a Person

J. Kevin Nugent is the founder and Director of the Brazelton Institute at Children's Hospital in Boston and is on the faculty of the?Harvard Medical School?in the Department of Pediatrics. He is also Professor of Child and Family Studies at?University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is coauthor, with Dr. Brazelton, of the Neonatal Behavior and Assessment Scale.Bonnie J. Petrauskas is the Director of Johnson & Johnson Corporate Contributions and Community Relations.T. Berry Brazelton, PhD, is a noted pediatrician and author of many scholarly and popular books on infants and toddlers. He is the Chair of the Pediatrics Department of Harvard Medical School, creator of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, and is nationally recognized as "America's most celebrated baby doctor since Benjamin Spock."

The Newborn as a Person: Enabling Healthy Infant Development Worldwide is a tribute to these 35 years of clinical and empirical use of the NBAS and attests to its immense impact on the way we conceptualize the infant. Its chapters are short and user friendly; provide concrete clinical examples; cover a range of topics; and are written by neonatalogists, pediatricians, psychologists, nurses, anthropologists, occupational therapists, social workers, and psychiatrists, all with hands-on experience in neonatal care. The first part of the book provides a historical perspective on newborn behavior and early relationship research, addressing some of the changes the field has experienced during the last three and a half decades.In the second part, clinicians and researchers from around the world present current studies and contemporary practices of newborn care, discuss the effects of early interventions with infants and families, and describe new approaches to the education and training of health care professionals. This section presents a range of topics- from longitudinal follow-ups of premature infants that link long-term outcomes to NBAS factors measured at birth, to the effects of massage, to relationship-based interventions in rural and urban settings and across the world.Of special interest to us is the description of the interface between neonate and culture, as discussed by Super and Harkness following their experience with the Kipsigis of Kenya. They demonstrate that cultural meaning systems, child care practices, and daily routines not only define the way mothers perceive their infants but also shape the newborn’s actual functioning and areas of competence. Due to the fact that, at present, 94 percent if the studies on infant development come from North America or Europe (Celia, 2004), the knowledge we have of infant development, as well as the theoretical frameworks we have for interpreting it, is based on observations conducted in highly specific contexts. A cross cultural viewpoint is thus critical to afford a broader vision of the infant as he or she is shaped by a range of cultural contexts.The last part of the book points to future directions. It opens the discussion on how the new body of knowledge gained through the NBAS should be integrated with the second major revolution of the century--that of the brain--and incorporated into policy making and professional training for those who care for newborns and their families.--Reviewed by Ruth Feldman and Dalia Silberstein (Online reviews Journal of the American Psychological Association. September 9, 2009 edition, Volume 54, Issue 36).

• Part I. Looking Back. Chapter 1. The Discovery of the Human Newborn: A Brief History (J. Kevin Nugent, PhD).Part II. Contemporary Research And Practice: International Perspectives Research on Newborn Behavior and Development.Chapter 2. Predicting Development for Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants: Sweden (Karin Stjernqvist, PhD).Chapter 3. The Effects of Newborn Massage: U.S.A. (Tiffany Field, PhD).Chapter 4. Perinatal Factors Influencing Development: Spain (Carme Costas-Moragas, PhD).Chapter 5. Supporting Parents of At-Risk Infants: Lessons from Japan (Shohei Ohgi, PhD and Tomitaro Akiyama, MD).Chapter 6. The Cultural Context of the Mother-Infant Relationship: Korea (Yeonghee Shin, RN, PhD and Byunghi Park, EdD).Chapter 7. Moments of Meeting: Pivotal Moments in Mother, Infant, Father Bonding: Switzerland (Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern, MD).Chapter 8. The Developmental Niche of the Young Infant: Kenya (Charles M. Super, PhD and Sara Harkness, PhD, MPH).Early Intervention with Infants and Families.Chapter 9. Early Intervention and Fatherhood: Denmark(Hanne Munck, Cand. Psych.).Chapter 10. A Model for Working in Community Health Settings: The U.K. (Joanna Hawthorne, PhD and Betty Hutchon, SROT).Chapter 11. Using the NBO with At-Risk Infants and Families: U.S.A. (Yvette Blanchard, ScD, PT).Chapter 12. Early Intervention in an Australian Setting (Beulah Warren, MA Hons).Chapter 13. Reaching Out to Rural Communities: A Community Health Model: Thailand (Nittaya Jirathiyut Kotchabhakdi, MD, MS (MCH) and Naiphinich Kotchabhakdi, PhD).Chapter 14. Maternal-Child and Family Nursing and Preventive Intervention: U.S A. (Kristie Brandt, RN, CNM, MSN, ND).New Models in Training Health Care Professionals.Chapter 15. The Touchpoints Approach (Ann Coleman Stadtler, MSN, CPNP and John Hornstein, EdD).Chapter 16. The Newborn as a Touchpoint: Training Pediatricians in Portugal (João Gomes-Pedro, PhD, MD).Chapter 17. Humanizing the Infant: France (Drina Candilis-Huisman, PhD and Marie Fabre-Grenet, MD).Chapter 18. The NBAS in a North Carolina Clinical Setting: Hospital and Home (James M. Helm, PhD and Marie A. Reilly, PT, PhD).Chapter 19. Relationship-Based Practice in the Newborn Nursery: Thoughts for the Pediatric Professional: USA (Constance Keefer, MD, Lise Carolyn Johnson, MD, and Susan Minear, MD).Chapter 20. Preparing Professionals to Work with Newborns: The Brazelton Institute Experience: USA ( Jean Gardner Cole, MS, Cecilia F. Matson, MA, and Thembi Ranuga, MPH, MS, APRN-BC).Chapter 21. Integrating Developmental Principles into the Daily Work of Health Professionals: Italy (Gherardo Rapisardi, MD Adrienne Davidson, MS, BPT, Roberto Paludetto, MD, and Giuseppina Mansi, PhD).Part III. Looking Towards The Future.Chapter 22. A View from the Lab (Rachel Keen, PhD).Chapter 23. Parent-Infant Bonding and Doula Support (John H. Kennell, MD).Chapter 24. The Brazelton Baby: The Other Side of the Coin (Ed Tronick, PhD).Chapter 25. Evolving Family Dynamics and Neonatal Assessment (Bonnie J. Petrauskas).Chapter 26. Future Dialogue Between the Neurosciences and the Behavioral Observation of Infants (Daniel N. Stern, MD and Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern, MD).Chapter 27. The Role of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale: Personal Reflections (T. Berry Brazelton, MD).