Commentary: Sensitive publications and sensitive periods.

摘要

The investigation by Bystrova and colleagues is a pioneering attempt to study the impact of early post-partum contact between mothers and babies on their behavior at a year after birth. Although the study design is randomized, it raises some methodological concerns, including the small sample size, the recruitment of so few women (386) over a 3-year period, the age of the data, the nonconformity with current definitions of exclusive breastfeeding, and the lack of an intention-to-treat analysis. It also lacks follow-up of mother-baby interactions during the period between hospital discharge and the 1-year assessment, so that suggestions about the importance of a "sensitive period" at the time of birth are not open to evaluation with respect to the compensatory behaviors that might ensue during the first year of life.