From Hospital to Home: Continuity Between Skin-to-Skin Care and Later Verbal Engagement in Infants Born Preterm.

Rios, Pamela M; Marchman, Virginia A; Lazarus, Molly F; Ontiveros Perez, Nuria L; Scala, Melissa; Travis, Katherine E; Feldman, Heidi M · J Pediatr · 2026

prospective_cohort · Level II

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Abstract

This descriptive cohort study documented continuity between family-delivered skin-to-skin care rates for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit and amounts of child-directed speech at child age 9 months. Involvement in skin-to-skin care may be an early marker of caregiver-infant engagement and a target for early interventions that support positive caregiver-infant interactions.

Medical subject headings