CRYING IN SEPARATED AND NON-SEPARATED NEWBORNS - SOUND SPECTROGRAPHICANALYSIS

During the first 1-2 h after birth crying occurs during separation fro m the mother and stops on reunion. In rats, such ''separation distress calls'' have distinct phonetic properties. We examined this early cry ing by sound spectrography in 29 healthy, full-term, vaginally deliver ed babies, randomly assigned either to be kept in a cot or to be place d in body contact with the mother during the 90 min following birth. T he former babies cried almost 10 times more than the latter ones. The duration of the cry signal (the smallest element of a cry analysed by spectrography) in both groups was 0.8-0.9 s; the melody contour was fl at or slightly rising-falling with a fundamental frequency of around 5 00 hertz. The cry is provisionally characterized as a discomfort cry, elicited mainly by separation from the mother.