PEDIATRICS Vol. 88 No. 4 October 1991, pp. 795-800
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Visitation to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Michael Lewis PhD1, Margaret Bendersky PhD1, Anne Koons MD2, Thomas Hegyi MD2, I. Mark Hiatt MD2, Barbara Ostfeld PhD2, and David Rosenfeld MD2

1 From the Institute for the Study of Child Development, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick
2 From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick

Preterm newborns may experience extended periods of hospitalization which disrupt the normal early contact between the newborn and its family. Variations in the frequency of visits to 164 preterm neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit were examined in relation to infant and family status variables and compliance with follow-up appointments at 3 months postterm. The mean number of visitors decreased from day 2 to day 12 of hospitalization and then remained stable through day 21. There was a corresponding increase in the number of days with no visitors through day 12, and then stabilization. Neonates who had intraventricular hemorrhages, whose parents did not live together, and who were not firstborn had the most days with no visitors. While the mother was hospitalized herself, her condition was the only variable related to percentage of no-visitor days. The sicker the mother, the more likely the newborn had no visitors. The greater the number of days with no visitors, the poorer the likelihood that the infant was brought to a 3-month follow-up clinic appointment.

Key Words: neonatal intensive care unit • visitation • neonate • family

Submitted on October 4, 1990
Accepted on December 12, 1990




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R. Latva, L. Lehtonen, R. K. Salmelin, and T. Tamminen
Visiting Less Than Every Day: A Marker for Later Behavioral Problems in Finnish Preterm Infants
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, December 1, 2004; 158(12): 1153 - 1157.
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