Birth of a parent: Sensitivity to infant signals during pregnancy and its implications on postnatal development

This project investigates the development of parental responses to infant facial and vocal signals during pregnancy. A longitudinal study and a pilot intervention study will address the following questions: 1) Do responses to infant facial and vocal signals change during pregnancy in mothers and fathers? 2) Are parental prenatal responses to infant signals associated with the quality of postnatal parenting and infant emotional development during the first year? 3) Are responses to infant signals associated with prenatal changes in major hormonal systems implicated in parenting? 4) Does a prenatal pilot intervention affect responses to infant signals and parent-infant interaction?