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Melissa O’Connell is well aware that the quality of a person’s life begins at birth. “I knew that I was interested in working with children since undergraduate school,” says O’Connell, a Ph.D. student in UMBC’s applied developmental psychology program . “Because the period from birth to 3-years-old is such a crucial time in a child’s life, I have been drawn to helping this age group.”

Accompanied by a team of 20 fellow UMBC students, O’Connell is coordinating an intervention project on parenting for mothers who have given birth prematurely. Supported by a five-year grant from NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Development), the project’s goal is to determine what predicts quality parenting among mothers who have given birth to a preemie (premature baby). Two groups make up the study: a control group and an intervention group.

The intervention group mothers undergo a parent training program conducted by home visitors. These education sessions include: a video called “Preemie Talk,” which deciphers the cues and signals given by preemies; the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment, which helps parents recognize and evaluate their infant’s social and physical capabilities; and a demonstration of massage techniques for infants. In contrast, the control group mothers receive home visitors for the same length of time as the intervention group, but they do not receive training of any sort. “We sit and talk with these moms about whatever they want to discuss,” says O’Connell. “They’ve reacted quite positively. They enjoy the visits.” Because the home visits alone (with or without training) appear to have an affect on the mothers, the researchers are considering the creation of one more control group that would receive no visitors at all.

The mothers chosen to participate in the study are all African American women over 18 years with a clean drug record. They all gave birth prior to a 37-week gestation period (40 is normal) and their premature babies weighed less than 2500 grams and had no chromosomal abnormalities.

For her dissertation, O’Connell is interested in studying maternal sensitivity, possibly building upon what she learns from this project. Through this project, she hopes to evaluate whether intervention training helps facilitate the formation of a stronger bond between mother and infant. To test the lasting nature of this bond, the project includes not only the intervention training during the first four to five months of the infants’ life, but also two additional follow-ups at ages one and two.

O’Connell anticipates that the mothers receiving the intervention training will be more successful parents. “We’re hoping that the intervention moms will show greater sensitivity, as well as other improvements, and we’re hoping the babies will do better in terms of their growth, cognitive, motor and social emotional development,” she says. The intervention project has been gratifying for both researcher and recipient. “It’s nice to be able to help mothers see that they have this potential for good parenting,” says O’Connell. “It’s particularly gratifying working with preterm infants. Their long-term prognosis may be unpredictable, but you hope for the best, and you hope that you’re giving the mothers the support they need.”