First Conversations

Abstract

Conversations of 48 mothers were recorded with audiotapes while they interacted with their newborn infants in the first 10 minutes after birth in an El Paso, Texas, birth center. Of the women recorded, 34 were Hispanic; 14 were Anglo. Analysis of verbal content revealed that, unlike previously reported studies, comments about the infant's eyes or resemblance to family members were rare or lacking entirely. Far more frequent than reported by others were questions or comments about the infant's gender. It is postulated that differences in verbal content among studies of these first "conversations" may be due to (1) different time intervals for recording or (2) different sociocultural backgrounds of the women observed (mother-infant interaction, language, and ethnicity).