Interactions of mothers with their newborns in the first half‐hour of life

Eight first‐time and eight second‐time working class mothers were observed interacting with their newborn babies during the first half‐hour of life. In all cases the father was present for at least some of this period. The interactions were notable for their passivity, mothers looked for long periods at their babies and engaged in some finger‐tip touching of the babies face and head, but they engaged in very little exploration of the babies, few vocalizations and few expressive acts such as kissing. However, the presence of the father was associated with more intense mother‐newborn interaction. First‐time but not second‐time fathers tended to be excluded from interaction with either the mother or the baby at this time. These results are discussed in the light of current thinking on mother‐newborn bonding and the role of midwifery staff in promoting that bonding process.