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The Importance of Touch in the Care of Newborns
facts and opinion The Importance of Touch in the Care of Newborns
LlENNE D. T E M P E S T A , RN
Babies start to learn of their world f r o m the minute they are born. T h e y begin to distinguish feelings, positive and negative, as they are cared for b y their nzothersthrough touch. I t is only in recent years that w e have again recognized professionally the importance of the first years of life in the development of personality. W e know that the mother plays a vital role in this development. T h e manner in w h i c h she holds, feeds, and touches her child constitutes his first consistent learning experience. With her he learns t o relate to outside stimuli-hopefully, he learns love. A nurse can use her skills t o guide a mother’s reaction t o her child, thus indirectly influencing h o w that child will react t o society.
Address reprint requests to Lienne D. Tempesta, RN, 3449 N. Sharon Amity Road, Apt. F-1, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Before birth the baby exists in a living rhythmic environment within his mother. When he first comes in contact with the world outside the uterus, sights and sounds mean little to him. His own movements are limited and ineffectual. His only communication is by touch. H e is extremely sensitive to touch: It is the single criterion by which he can measure his environment. During the infant’s first year of life the one who touches him most is his mother. His relationship with her is his key to the social world. She is the first “other” in his awareness: H e uses her to develop a recognition of his own identity, the basis for all his subsequent personality development. As she touches and mothers him she provides him with security, comfort and love. An important and specialized act of touching is feeding. T h e ability to suck is present a t birth, and as he sucks the infant obtains sensory satisfaction as well as gratification of his hunger. H e soon associates the sensations of feeding with comfort and reassurance. Being held close to his mother’s body and being rocked rhythmically are other examples of the ways in which his sense of touch is stimulated. Since touch is all important for the newborn, it is the only way he can appreciate feelings, particularly those of his mother and others who touch him. If his mother has a warm, loving feeling for him he will sense this by the way she touches him. If on the other hand she feels rage, fear, hatred,
loneliness, envy or guilt, he will notice this. Also, he will notice if she changes from one emotion to another. Usually a mother’s positive feelings will result in a calm, contented baby-sucking well, sleeping easily. Negative feelings or anxiety on the part of the mother disrupt any efforts to comfort, feed or change the baby. If nursing, he may cry between nursing efforts, spit up or even refuse to nurse at all and squirm to get out of his mother’s arms. T h e nurse can play an important role in the early mother-baby relation. She needs to know the significance of touch and the normal behavior patterns of newborns and their mothers. She needs to observe each couple carefully to determine the nature of their relationship. Are they comfortable, relaxed, or is the mother anxious or upset? If the couple are happy and relaxed, they need praise and encouragement. If the relationship is uneasy, from whatever cause, the nurse must try to improve it, using her particular knowledge *of the importance of touch to the newborn. First, the nurse must know how to hold and handle the baby securely and with love. Second, she should make suggestions to the mother as to how to hold and touch her baby in such a way as to give him those feelings of security and love, recognizing that there are many ways of holding a baby and that what works for one couple may
not work for another. Comfortable positions for feeding are particularly important. Third, the nurse should help the mother to understand her own feelings and anxieties. Is she concerned about her ability to breast feed or her role as a mother? Does she have some special family problems? Is she in pain or does she have some other physiologic or psychologic need? A nurse, by using her knowledge of touch and its importance in the security and comfort of mother and baby, can help the mother to develop a healthy relationship with her baby. She can guide each mother to react to her baby’s needs and to develop understanding of him as a person, and she can strengthen the mother’s confidence in her own ability as a mother. Bibliography Chaloner, L.: “Sensory Deprivation.” Nurs Times 56: 1046-1047, 1960 Stuart, H. C., and D. G. Prugh (editors): The Healthy Child. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1960, pp 209-2 11 Johnson, B. S.: “The Meaning of Touch in Nursing.” Nurs Outlook 13:59-60, 1965 Pearce, J., and S. Newton: T h e Conditions of Human Growth. N e w York, Citadel Press, 1963, pp 80-83 Peplau, H.: “Anxiety in the Mother-Infant Relationship.” Nurs World 134:33-34, 1960 Ribble, M.: T h e Rights of Infants. N e w York, Columbia University Press, 1965, pp 22-36, 56-57 Smith, M.: “Ego Support for the Child Patient.” Am J Nurs 63:90-95, 1963
T h e author took a BSN degree at the University of North Carolina in 1971. She is a member of Signia Theta Tau (the National Honorary Society for BS Programs of Nursing) and is presently Chairwoman, North Carolina Section, N A A C O G . During her student years she held both District and State ofices in the Student Nurse Association of North Carolina. Mrs. Tenipesta is currmtly a Staff Nurse in Labor and Delivery, Duke Hospital, Durham, North Carolina.
28
DAVIS+G EC K ANNOUNCING THE FIRST ANNUAL DAVIS AND GECK AWARDS FOR EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND STUDENT ARTICLES 2 FIRST PRIZES OF
$500
each will be awarded by Davis and Geck for the best research article and best student article published in JOGN Nursing during 1972
2 SECOND PRIZES OF
$250
each will also be awarded by Davis and Geck for the second best research and student articles Davis and Geck, American Cyanamid Company, the manufacturer of sutures and other surgical products and producers and distributors of the largest surgical film library in the world, has long had an avid interest in the continuing education of physicians and nurses. And now, to encourage significant research in the obstetric, gynecologic and neonatal nursing profession, Davis and Geck i s pleased to announce an annual program of cash awards for editorial excellence. All research articles and student-authored articles published in JOGN Nursing during 1972 will be considered for the first annual D&G awards. The Journal Editorial Board will select the winners, to be announced in the January/February 1973 issue. You are cordially invited to submit manuscripts to Mrs. Ruth Young, Editor, The Nurses Association of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 7 9 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603.
LlENNE D. T E M P E S T A , RN
Babies start to learn of their world f r o m the minute they are born. T h e y begin to distinguish feelings, positive and negative, as they are cared for b y their nzothersthrough touch. I t is only in recent years that w e have again recognized professionally the importance of the first years of life in the development of personality. W e know that the mother plays a vital role in this development. T h e manner in w h i c h she holds, feeds, and touches her child constitutes his first consistent learning experience. With her he learns t o relate to outside stimuli-hopefully, he learns love. A nurse can use her skills t o guide a mother’s reaction t o her child, thus indirectly influencing h o w that child will react t o society.
Address reprint requests to Lienne D. Tempesta, RN, 3449 N. Sharon Amity Road, Apt. F-1, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Before birth the baby exists in a living rhythmic environment within his mother. When he first comes in contact with the world outside the uterus, sights and sounds mean little to him. His own movements are limited and ineffectual. His only communication is by touch. H e is extremely sensitive to touch: It is the single criterion by which he can measure his environment. During the infant’s first year of life the one who touches him most is his mother. His relationship with her is his key to the social world. She is the first “other” in his awareness: H e uses her to develop a recognition of his own identity, the basis for all his subsequent personality development. As she touches and mothers him she provides him with security, comfort and love. An important and specialized act of touching is feeding. T h e ability to suck is present a t birth, and as he sucks the infant obtains sensory satisfaction as well as gratification of his hunger. H e soon associates the sensations of feeding with comfort and reassurance. Being held close to his mother’s body and being rocked rhythmically are other examples of the ways in which his sense of touch is stimulated. Since touch is all important for the newborn, it is the only way he can appreciate feelings, particularly those of his mother and others who touch him. If his mother has a warm, loving feeling for him he will sense this by the way she touches him. If on the other hand she feels rage, fear, hatred,
loneliness, envy or guilt, he will notice this. Also, he will notice if she changes from one emotion to another. Usually a mother’s positive feelings will result in a calm, contented baby-sucking well, sleeping easily. Negative feelings or anxiety on the part of the mother disrupt any efforts to comfort, feed or change the baby. If nursing, he may cry between nursing efforts, spit up or even refuse to nurse at all and squirm to get out of his mother’s arms. T h e nurse can play an important role in the early mother-baby relation. She needs to know the significance of touch and the normal behavior patterns of newborns and their mothers. She needs to observe each couple carefully to determine the nature of their relationship. Are they comfortable, relaxed, or is the mother anxious or upset? If the couple are happy and relaxed, they need praise and encouragement. If the relationship is uneasy, from whatever cause, the nurse must try to improve it, using her particular knowledge *of the importance of touch to the newborn. First, the nurse must know how to hold and handle the baby securely and with love. Second, she should make suggestions to the mother as to how to hold and touch her baby in such a way as to give him those feelings of security and love, recognizing that there are many ways of holding a baby and that what works for one couple may
not work for another. Comfortable positions for feeding are particularly important. Third, the nurse should help the mother to understand her own feelings and anxieties. Is she concerned about her ability to breast feed or her role as a mother? Does she have some special family problems? Is she in pain or does she have some other physiologic or psychologic need? A nurse, by using her knowledge of touch and its importance in the security and comfort of mother and baby, can help the mother to develop a healthy relationship with her baby. She can guide each mother to react to her baby’s needs and to develop understanding of him as a person, and she can strengthen the mother’s confidence in her own ability as a mother. Bibliography Chaloner, L.: “Sensory Deprivation.” Nurs Times 56: 1046-1047, 1960 Stuart, H. C., and D. G. Prugh (editors): The Healthy Child. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1960, pp 209-2 11 Johnson, B. S.: “The Meaning of Touch in Nursing.” Nurs Outlook 13:59-60, 1965 Pearce, J., and S. Newton: T h e Conditions of Human Growth. N e w York, Citadel Press, 1963, pp 80-83 Peplau, H.: “Anxiety in the Mother-Infant Relationship.” Nurs World 134:33-34, 1960 Ribble, M.: T h e Rights of Infants. N e w York, Columbia University Press, 1965, pp 22-36, 56-57 Smith, M.: “Ego Support for the Child Patient.” Am J Nurs 63:90-95, 1963
T h e author took a BSN degree at the University of North Carolina in 1971. She is a member of Signia Theta Tau (the National Honorary Society for BS Programs of Nursing) and is presently Chairwoman, North Carolina Section, N A A C O G . During her student years she held both District and State ofices in the Student Nurse Association of North Carolina. Mrs. Tenipesta is currmtly a Staff Nurse in Labor and Delivery, Duke Hospital, Durham, North Carolina.
28
DAVIS+G EC K ANNOUNCING THE FIRST ANNUAL DAVIS AND GECK AWARDS FOR EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND STUDENT ARTICLES 2 FIRST PRIZES OF
$500
each will be awarded by Davis and Geck for the best research article and best student article published in JOGN Nursing during 1972
2 SECOND PRIZES OF
$250
each will also be awarded by Davis and Geck for the second best research and student articles Davis and Geck, American Cyanamid Company, the manufacturer of sutures and other surgical products and producers and distributors of the largest surgical film library in the world, has long had an avid interest in the continuing education of physicians and nurses. And now, to encourage significant research in the obstetric, gynecologic and neonatal nursing profession, Davis and Geck i s pleased to announce an annual program of cash awards for editorial excellence. All research articles and student-authored articles published in JOGN Nursing during 1972 will be considered for the first annual D&G awards. The Journal Editorial Board will select the winners, to be announced in the January/February 1973 issue. You are cordially invited to submit manuscripts to Mrs. Ruth Young, Editor, The Nurses Association of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 7 9 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603.