Attitudes of self-confidence in caring for their infants were measured using a paired comparison questionnaire for two groups of mothers: a separation group of 21 mothers denied physical interaction with their premature infants in the first weeks following birth and a contact group of 22 mothers allowed to care for their premature infants in the hospital nursery during this period. Separation resulted in lower self-confidence for primiparous mothers (p < .01) but not for multiparous mothers. Comparing mothers initially low in selfconfidence (disregarding parity), those in the separation group were more likely to remain low until the infant was discharged (p < .02). Self-confidence predicted observed skill at one week postdischarge (^><.05). Psychological, social, and physiological explanations of these differences were considered.Studies of maternal behavior in nonhuman mammals suggest that restriction of interaction between mother and infant in the early postpartum period influences subsequent maternal performance and may, in fact, produce clearly incompetent mothering (Harlow, Harlow,

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