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Research Findings Point the Way Forward

February 11, 2019

Exciting work is happening at the Nurture Science Program. This year, the NSP will focus on the Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS), supporting NICU families, and developing tools to support preschool families.

Martha G. Welch, MD, Honored by American Psychiatric Association

January 23, 2019

Dr. Martha G. Welch, Director of the Nurture Science Program, has been named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

The WECS is a new tool for evaluating emotional connection between parent and child.

Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) Validated in New Study

June 30, 2018

A report published in Acta Paediatrica validates this brief measure of mother/infant relational health.

The Nurture Science Program was featured on PBS NewsHour May 30th and 31st, 2017.

The Nurture Science Program Featured on PBS NewsHour

May 31, 2017

The two-part series provides an intimate look at how mothers and their premature infants are benefiting from the Program’s Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) in the NICU and examines some of the exciting findings from the first randomized control trial.

Family Nurture Could Help Preterm Babies Avoid Developmental Problems

April 21, 2017

NPR’s ‘Here and Now’ looks at an ongoing study of Family Nurture in the NICU in San Antonio, Texas.

Evaluating parent-child emotional connection can help identify problems early, so steps can be taken to help families overcome barriers to connection.

New test scores emotional weight of parent-child connections

November 17, 2016

Videos of mothers and their infants interacting with each other may contain clues to autism risk. Unpublished results were presented at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Calming cycle theory proposes that early emotional behavior is shaped by autonomic co‐conditioning between mother and infant.

Calming Cycle Theory

August 18, 2016

Martha G. Welch, MD, Director of the Nurture Science Program, published a viewpoint article in Acta Paediatrica that explains Calming Cycle Theory and the role of visceral/autonomic learning in early mother and infant/child behavior and development.

Exploring The Science of Nurture

July 20, 2016

Connections – a newsletter from New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital – provides an overview of the Nurture Science Program’s research on emotional connection in the NICU.

Premature birth puts children at increased risk for many challenges, including behavioral problems, learning difficulties, and autism spectrum disorders. Family Nurture Intervention in the NICU has been shown to decrease these risks.

Nurturing Brain Development in Preterm Infants: The DANA Foundation

December 21, 2015

Martha G. Welch, MD explains how the Nurture Science Program is working to support brain development in preterm infants using Family Nurture intervention in the NICU.

An EEG net can record brain activity while a baby is sleeping and show how brain development differs between preterm infants who received Family Nurture Intervention in the NICU and those who did not.

Brain Circuit Signals Flag Preterm Babies’ Risk for Autism: Spectrum News

October 20, 2015

Martha G. Welch, MD explains how the Nurture Science Program is working to support brain development in preterm infants using Family Nurture intervention in the NICU.