Visiting in the intensive care nursery

Analyses made of the pattern and frequency of visits to the intensive care nursery by mothers of 78 very low birth weight (< 1,500 grams) infants found initial visiting rates to be low, averaging less than 1 visit per week. Visits increased during the early part of the infant's hospitalization. However, visits of mothers whose infants received an early stimulation program continued to increase until the infant was discharged. Visiting was found to be uncorrelated with medical, socioeconomic, or demographic variables, but was apparently related to the significantly higher state levels exhibited by stimulated infants.