Healthy Preterm Infant Responses to Taped Maternal Voice

This study was a repeated measures design, examining behavioral and physiologic responses of premature infants to taped maternal voice. Fourteen stable, premature infants, 31 to 34 weeks' gestation and serving as their own controls, were monitored and videotaped 4 times each day for 3 consecutive days during the first week of their life. There were no significant differences found in heart rate or oxygen saturation between study conditions. Behavioral data revealed less motor activity and more wakefulness, while hearing the maternal tape, suggesting some influence on infant state regulation. Attending behaviors were significantly greater, with more eye brightening and facial tone. Minimal distress was seen throughout the study, as indicated by stable heart rate and oxygen saturation and by the absence of behaviors such as jitteriness, loss of tone, or loss of color. The results of this preliminary study suggest that premature infants are capable of attending to tape recordings of their mother's voice.