Abstract :
Keywords Mother-infant relations; Mother infant interaction; Kangaroo-mother care method; Skin to skin contact; Growth and development; Premature infant Highlights * Early skin-to-skin contact favors infant's interactive behavior. * The late onset of skin-to-skin contact worsens the mother-infant attunement. * Mothers exposed to smoking have a negative impact on interaction with infant. * Infants of multiparous mothers show less favorable interactive behavior. Abstract Objective To compare mother-infant interaction between hospital discharge and at six months of corrected age of infants born [less than or equal to]32 weeks and investigate the association between the onset of skin-to-skin contact and the difference in mother-infant interaction between discharge and six months of corrected age (CA) among preterm infants. Material and methods Prospective observational study, in which 72 mother-infant dyads were evaluated. Preterm newborns (born with gestational age [less than or equal to] 32 weeks of gestational age) from two public maternity hospitals were assessed by means of video macro analysis of the mother-infant interaction according to the parameters adopted by the Mother-Baby Observation Protocol 0--6 (POIMB), at hospital discharge and at six months of corrected gestational age. Such variables as socioeconomic conditions, depression and maternal anxiety were controlled. Multivariate model was built. Results Onset skin-to-skin contact within three days of life increased by 1.30 points for the best interactive infant behavior at discharge for the six months of CA. In addition, in relation to the tuning of the mother-infant dyad, the initiation of skin-to-skin contact at 20 days of life reduced 1.0 point significantly. Multiparous mothers or those exposed to cigarette smoke performed worse in the development of the dyad. Conclusion The preterm newborn should initiate skin-to-skin contact early and, whenever possible, by the third day of life to favor mother-infant interaction. Abbreviations SSC, skin to skin contact; PTNB, preterm newborn; NB, newborn; POIMB, Protocol for Observation of Mother-Baby Interaction 0--6 months; CA, corrected age; NICU, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; NSICU, Neonatal Semi Intensive Care Unit; KCU, Kangaro Care Unit; EPDS, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale; STAI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Author Affiliation: (a) Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 190 Professor Alfredo Balena Ave. Santa Efigênia, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30130-100, Brazil (b) Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 1286 Benjamin Constant Street, 1286, Nossa Sra. Aparecida, Uberlândia, MG, 38400-678, Brazil * Corresponding author at: 190 Professor Alfredo Balena Ave. Belo Horizonte, 30130-100, Brazil. Article History: Received 17 February 2021; Revised 10 December 2021; Accepted 14 December 2021 Byline: Cynthia Ribeiro do Nascimento Nunes [cynthia_2010_@hotmail.com] (a,*), Nathalia Faria de Freitas (a), Juliana Rodrigues Peixoto Arruda (a), Marcelle D'Ávila Diniz Bartholomeu (a), Gislene Cristina Valadares (a), Thalyta Magalhães Rodrigues (a), Vivian Mara Gonçalves de Oliveira Azevedo (b), Maria Cândida Ferrarez Bouzada (a)