EFFECT OF THE HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT ON NEWBORN STATE BEHAVIOR AND MATERNAL SLEEP.
Contributors: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 276
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The study employed a two-group comparison design to investigate the effect of the night time hospital environment on newborn and maternal sleep patterns. A total of twenty-one full-term, low-risk newborns and their mothers comprised the study sample. Data relating to environmental conditions and sleep patterns were collected the first two consecutive nights following delivery. Data were collected using a sleep-environment monitor bassinet and maternal self report.

Comparison of the nursery environment with the environment of the mother's postpartum room at night revealed major differences in the area of light levels, sound levels and caregiving practices. The nursery environment was shown to be a consistently noisier and brighter environment. Caregiving practices varied in amount of caregiver contact, response of caregiver to crying and state contingency of care. A comparison of the night time sleep/wake patterns for the infants in these two environments revealed differences in the state categories of quiet sleep, unclassified active and crying. The infants in the Rooming-in group spent more in-crib time in quiet sleep and less time in the unclassified active and crying states. In the area of maternal sleep no significant differences were found in quantity or quality of sleep, that related to presence or absence of the infant in the mother's postpartum room. This lack of group difference occurred despite the fact that the majority of the mothers in the Nursery group took sleep medication. The data did not reveal any overall developmental trends in infant sleep/wake patterns from night one to night two following delivery. Within-group night differences were noted which included an increase in unclassified active and a decrease in quiet sleep for the Nursery group. The infants in the Rooming-in group demonstrated an increase in active sleep from the first to the second night of the study.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-05, Section: B, page: 1429.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1984.

School code: 0831.