Posted: September 9th, 2016

Describe three newborn infant behaviors that would be likely to indicate hunger.

This assessment requires you to respond to a series of questions within given clinical scenarios and support all your answers with contemporary literary evidence. Consider the relevant contextual factors within the given scenario when developing your responses to the questions
Example Question 2: Jane is a first time mother who delivered her full term baby normally approximately 6 hours ago. Jane asks the midwife what signs she should look for to identify if her infant is hungry. Describe three newborn infant behaviors that would be likely to indicate hunger. [3 marks]

Question 2 – Answer options Marks awarded and explanation
Pairman (2013) identifies that mothers should observe their infant’s feeding patterns, will learn the cues that their infants uses to indicate hunger and will become very good at interpreting the infant’s types of cry. This answer doesn’t closely follow the focus of the question and would get 0/3 marks. The sentence itself is correct in that mothers do learn their infants feeding behavior cues however this point is not what the question is asking for.
• mouthing movements
• sucking fingers
• rooting reflex (Myles, 2014) 2/3 marks. The option LISTS the infant behaviors rather than describing them – less evidence of understanding conveyed. For example the student’s understanding of rooting reflex is not conveyed here whereas it is in the third option
Fraser & Duggan (2011) identify infant hunger cues as:
• mouthing movements when the infant may suck on its hands or fingers
• the rooting reflex may be noticed where the infant moves its head side to side with mouth open – seeking the nipple
• alert behavior with vigorous crying Its fairly obvious that this third option would get 3 marks out of 3.

Required Style: Your responses to questions in the learning activities must be typed. Responses may be in academic prose, sentences and/or point form at your discretion. All sources used in developing your answer should be appropriately acknowledged and referenced using an APA with all evidence based reference from Australian journals articles for past 4 years 2012-2016