How to administer MORS

The use of MORS tools should be seen as only one part of a structured conversation, that may include the use of other tools, but which is basically an opportunity to develop a good understanding of a caregiver’s state of mind with respect to themselves and their infant/child. MORS captures the caregiver’s mental image of their infant/child, which is made up in part of objective perceptions but is also, importantly, affected by the caregiver’s mood, preoccupations and concerns, as well as external stressors and protective factors. All of these should be taken into account.

For example, research is showing how depression and anxiety each affect how a mother perceives her infant, and how the level of social support that she has influences the strength of these effects.

An important part of the ‘framing’ of MORS when given to a caregiver to complete is to note the phrase ‘many of these are true of all babies/children at times’. This allows the caregiver freedom to say, for example, “well it doesn’t make sense to ask whether my baby ‘talks’ to me. Young babies don’t talk”. This sort of response is useful in interpreting how the caregiver is thinking about the infant’s capacities. So an accepting response is appropriate, suggesting to the caregiver that ‘never’ is an appropriate choice.

It is helpful to introduce the MORS as this being ‘something that will help us to get a picture of how your baby is for you, so we can talk about what is going well and any things that you would like to discuss’.

If a caregiver does stumble on one of the questions, this can be a useful prompt for a brief discussion of relating to the infant/child. For example, ‘winds me up’ might lead to an exploration of what behaviours ‘wind up’ and what might lie behind this.​