The Newborn Behavioural Observations (NBO) system is a relationship-building tool that helps parents and health professionals understand a newborn baby’s behaviour, strengths and needs.
NBO Australasia at the Women’s is the official NBO training centre for Australia and New Zealand.
For more detailed information about our workshops, view NBO training course information.
What is the NBO?
A supportive and responsive relationship between parents and their baby is important for infant wellbeing and development.
During an NBO session, parents and clinicians observe a baby’s behaviour together and explore what it may tell them about the baby’s strengths, preferences and care needs.
The NBO includes 18 neurobehavioural observations and can be used from birth to approximately three months of age.
Observations include a baby’s:
- response to light and sound (sleep protection)
- movement, motor tone and activity
- hunger and feeding cues
- ability to settle and regulate, including crying and consolability
- visual, auditory and social interaction.
By noticing and understanding these behaviours together, parents can become more confident recognising and responding to their baby’s individual cues.
Using the NBO in your practice
The NBO is a flexible, strengths-based tool for professionals working with newborn babies, parents and families.
It can be used in a single consultation or across a series of sessions and incorporated into a range of clinical and community settings.
Professionals using the NBO may include:
- GPs and paediatricians
- child and family health nurses
- midwives and lactation consultants
- neonatal nurses
- social and family workers
- occupational, physical and developmental therapists
- psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health nurses.
Evidence for the NBO
Australian and international research supports the use of the NBO as a relationship-based intervention for newborns and their families.
An Australian randomised controlled trial published in The Infant Mental Health Journal in 2022 found that three NBO sessions delivered in the first month of infancy had positive impacts on the infant-parent relationship. Improvements in maternal mental health were also seen among families where current or previous maternal mental ill health had been identified during pregnancy.
Access the full NBO study publication online.
The NBO has been studied internationally across a range of clinical and community settings.
For more information about how the NBO has been studied and used in different settings around the world, visit the NBO International website.
NBO Australasia offers both online and in-person training for professionals working with newborns and families.
Training develops the knowledge, practical skills and confidence to use the NBO in practice, with an optional pathway to accreditation.
For more detailed information about our NBO Training courses, visit: NBO training course information.
To register for a course directly: NBO Australasia Events.
NBO Australasia, based at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, is the official training centre for Australia and New Zealand for the NBO system, developed by the Brazelton Institute in Boston, and is part of an international network working to improve understanding of newborn behaviour and strengthen relationships between babies and their families.
Our training team delivers interactive workshops combining evidence, practical learning and opportunities for small-group discussion and reflection.
- Susan Nicolson – NBO Master Trainer and site lead; GP and infant mental health clinician-researcher
- Campbell Paul – NBO Master Trainer; Consultant Infant Psychiatrist
- Dani Atkins – NBO Trainer; Occupational Therapist, New Zealand
- Natalie Duffy – NBO Trainer; Consultant Neonatologist
NBO Australasia is part of a network of training centres across the world making a difference to the lives of families through teaching the NBO and the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS).
Other countries with training centres include the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, Japan, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and our ‘parent centre’, the Brazelton Institute in Boston, USA.
These training centres, and their trained practitioners, form a global community of clinicians and researchers who work with babies and their families to understand baby behaviour and to strengthen families and communities.
To learn more, please visit:
“I have successfully incorporated elements of the NBO into the vast majority of my six-week neonatal checks. In all cases I have felt an enhanced ability to model connection with the newborn.”
Felicity Dent, General Practitioner, Melbourne
“I have done three observations so far and they have been incredibly powerful experiences. It felt like there was this shared knowledge of the infant in the room with a level of detail I haven't been able to get to with families before.”
Dr Shikkiah de Quadros-Wander, Clinical Psychologist, Melbourne
“I was amazed at the uniqueness of being able to involve parents interactively to help them get to know their babies. I find this an extremely powerful tool to help parents engage more readily and bond with their babies.”
Katherine Hayward, Registered Nurse, Midwife, Lactation Consultant
Supporting our work
If you would like to support the work of NBO Australasia, contact the NBO Australasia team or contact the Women’s Office of Philanthropy and Community Investment on (03) 8345 2954.
For further information, contact the NBO Australasia team at NBOAustralasia@thewomens.org.au.
Date reviewed: 05 February 2025
Date reviewed: 05 February 2025