7. Early mother/child interaction Flashcards
What are the initial bonds made between baby and mother whilst in utero?
By 22 weeks baby responding to sound especially mother
In womb baby has preference for mother’s voice and native language
At birth auditory pathways developed in womb enable baby to match mother’s voice with her face
Neural pathways laid down antenatally for smell to enable baby to identify smell of mother’s breast milk
Adverse effects of maternal stress and anxiety?
Small head circumference Earlier gestational age Lower birth weight Language delay Conduct disorder Autism Physical abnormality e.g. cleft palate
Effect of maternal alcohol or drug use?
Foetal alcohol syndrome:
- Growth impairment
- Abnormal facial features
- Problems with learning/attention, memory, problem solving, speech and hearing
Effect of maternal eating disorder?
Closure of neural tube
Effect of domestic abuse on foetus?
Often starts in 3rd trimester
Stress (cortisol) from mother restricts blood flow to fetal brain
Child is more anxious
Child has ADHD symptoms
What early experiences develop a child that is empathetic, trustful and has positive well being?
Caring adults that respond feotus reaching out to make bonds in warm, stimulating and caring ways
Result of impoverish, neglectful or abusive environment of baby development?
Results in a child that doesn’t develop empathy, or learn how to regulate their emotions or develop social skills.
Increased risk of mental health problems, relationship difficulties, antisocial behaviour and aggression.
Describe the meaning of Klein’s concept of projective identification?
For example:
A mother who has herself been unloved may project her feelings of unlovableness into her child and then identify with the child as unloved and unlovable.
What is containment?
The notion of another person being able to hold onto these feeling and then give them back detoxified and bearable.
This relies on the person “doing the containing” have a certain amount of self-knowledge and the ability to know what is “mine” and what is “another’s”.
Qualities of a person good at containing others is…
- Receptive
- Able to hold on to another person’s difficult feeling without being overwhelmed by them themselves
- Makes calm and thoughtful attempts to understand the problem
- Can convey a feeling that what the other is feeling is tolerable and meaningful and manageable.
What is reciprocity?
Describes the sophisticated interactions between a baby and an adult when both are involved in the initiation, regulation and termination of the interaction. Reciprocity applies to interactions on all relationships.
What development is reciprocity key for?
Language development.
If reciprocity has not developed well in an emotional way, language acquisition is likely to be impaired
The rhythm of sucking and stopping when feeding is the prototype of the development of turn taking.
What is “the dance of reciprocity” stages?
Initiation –> Orientation –> State of attention –> Acceleration –> Peak of excitement –> deceleration –> Withdrawal or turning away
Brazelton identified four strategies babies use to withdraw from too much stimulation or inappropriate stimulation:
i.e. “Lookaway”
- Turning or shrinking from it
- Rejecting it by pushing it away
- Decreasing its power to disturb by withdrawing attention
- Signalling behaviour, by crying, fussing, laughing, yawning
What is “lookaway”?
Describes baby’s attempts to self-regulate as well as process information so immature nervous system is not overwhelmed
Opportunity for the brain to store interactions to memory or make new synapse connections
