BRAZELTON NEONATAL ASSESSMENT SCALE

BRAZELTON NEONATAL ASSESSMENT SCALE T. Berry Brazelton, a pediatrician and researcher, published the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale BRAZELTON NEONATAL ASSESSMENT SCALE 69(BNAS) in the early 1970s. The scale enables parents, health care professionals, and researchers to under- stand a newborn’s language, as well as individual strengths and needs in depth. The BNAS assesses var- ious behaviors of infants until two months of age and takes about thirty minutes to administer. This assess- ment evaluates four main areas, including the infants’ ability to monitor their own breathing, temperature, and other bodily systems; control their motor move- ments; maintain an appropriate level of conscious- ness, which ranges from quiet sleep to a full cry; and interact socially with parents and other caregivers. The purpose of the BNAS is to help professionals as- sess the infant’s pattern of response to the environ- ment and then assist parents with strategies to build a positive relationship with their infant. See also: BIRTH; BRAZELTON, T. BERRY; REFLEXES Bibliography Brazelton, T. Berry, and Bertrand G. Cramer, eds. ‘‘The Assess- ment of the Newborn.’’ The Earliest Relationship. Reading, MA: Perseus Books, 1990. Tedder, Janice L. ‘‘Using the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale to Facilitate the Parent-Infant Relationship in Primary Care Settings.’’ Nurse Practitioner 16 (1991):27–36