The Newborn Behavioral Observations system as a nursing intervention to enhance engagement in first-time mothers: feasibility and desirability.

Engagement is the social process of maternal transition that enables growth and transformation and is linked to attachment and bonding. The feasibility and desirability of the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system as a nursing intervention to enhance engagement in first-time mothers were examined. The NBO is an exploration of the newborn conducted with parents to increase their understanding of their infant's behavioral cues as well as how to respond. Perceptions of the NBO were obtained from mothers who participated in NBO sessions in the postpartum period and from unit nurses who had been given information on the NBO. Mothers (n= 10) rated the NBO high for increasing their knowledge of what their infants can do (m=3.7/4.0, SD=0.48), and how to interact with them (m=3.8/4.0, SD=0.63). Two of the activities of engagement, experiencing the infant and active participation in care, emerged as themes from the mothers' qualitative responses. Nurses (n=20) believed the NBO would be an effective intervention. Participants believed the NBO to be an effective nursing intervention for enhancing maternal engagement in the early postpartum period.