Bonding and Attachment with Baby in the Womb or in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: The Critical Role of Early Emotional Connections

Raylene Phillips

doi:10.1016/j.cnc.2023.11.002

Bonding and Attachment with Baby in the Womb or in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: The Critical Role of Early Emotional Connections

Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am. 2024 Jun;36(2):157-165. doi: 10.1016/j.cnc.2023.11.002. Epub 2023 Dec 6.

Author

Raylene Phillips¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, 11175 Campus Street, CP 11121, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA. Electronic address: rphillps@llu.edu.

PMID: 38705685
DOI: 10.1016/j.cnc.2023.11.002

Abstract

Bonding and attachment are known to be critically important for the well-being of infants and children. Both bonding and attachment can begin before birth, which impacts fetal and infant brain development and may improve birth outcomes. Babies in the womb and preterm babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can hear and respond to maternal voices with positive effects on physiologic stability, brain development, and language development. Supporting emotional connections before and after birth is the responsibility and the privilege of health-care providers who care for pregnant mothers and babies in the NICU.

Keywords: Attachment; Bonding; Emotional connections; Fetus; Premature infant; Preterm.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Child Development / physiology
Emotions
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Premature* / psychology
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal*
Mother-Child Relations* / psychology
Object Attachment*
Pregnancy