Supporting infant ANS development has been implicated in their improved cardiorespiratory and neuropsychiatric outcome; furthermore, improved parasympathetic activity, a branch of ANS, is a predictor of the mother-infant relationship, and the best marker for caregiving behavior. In Feldman and Eidelman's 2003 study, they demonstrated that mother-infant skin-to-skin contact, also known as Kangaroo Care, accelerates ANS maturation in pre-term infants, which is critical for their recovery. If reading is shown to have a positive effect on mother infant ANS, hospitals will be able to incorporate this into practice as a feasible alternative for when Kangaroo Care isn't possible. The investigators hope to learn if these reading interventions will help to mitigate distress symptoms, among both mother and baby, within the hospital. The investigators will examine the association of reading therapy with the infant's crying patterns, length of stay in the hospital, weight gain, and behavior compared to before the reading was done.~Seeing that Scala's findings from 2018 is the only indication of physiologic benefits of reading to infants in the hospital, additional research is required in this particular area. The testing and application of reading therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) would improve a high-stress environment for both parents and infants. Data collected from this project will not only add some much-needed information to the limited knowledge of the physiological effects of reading on neonates, but also demonstrate how infant outcomes can be improved in a cost-effective, efficient manner within the hospital setting.
The primary purpose of this pilot study is to specifically examine the effect of parental reading on the ANS of mother and neonate in the hospital setting. The investigators will examine the effect of live maternal-infant reading on typically developing infants to better understand the physiological benefits of live reading on newborns.