Background: A major barrier to clinical research is the fear of IRB's or clinicians that obtaining informed consent for single or multiple studies will cause undue stress, harass patients, or simply compromise their satisfaction with care. This is a particular problem for preterm infants eligible for multiple scientifically compatible studies. Concern about overwhelming the mother of a sick newborn with complex information may even preclude enrolling infants into studies likely to reduce patient risk. Purpose: To evaluate maternal satisfaction with neonatal care and the information provided when informed consent is sought shortly after delivery in a large public hospital. Methods: Our consent procedures are carefully considered and rehearsed by research nurses experienced in both neonatal intensive care and clinical research. Prior to discussing research, they verify that the mother has been informed about the infant's clinical problems and care. We assessed mothers of infants ≤1250g birthweight who were a) approached for consent for 1-4 studies within the first 96h post-delivery, or b) not approached for consent (comparison group matched for infant's postnatal age). These mothers were asked by a different research nurse to answer questions about their satisfaction with the care and information provided when the infants were 48±26 (mean±SD)h old,(within 2-96h after the last consent was sought). Results: To date we have assessed 27 consent and 27 comparison mothers. Mothers approached for consent all stated that they were Very Pleased (19) or Pleased (8) (vs 0 Not So Pleased or Displeased) with their infants' care and with the information provided. They were all Glad (27) (vs 0 Not Glad) that the research nurse(s) had spoken with them and most thought that it was Good (25) (vs 1 No Different and 0 Bad) to be in a hospital where research was conducted. There were no significant differences in maternal satisfaction with care or information provided between the consent and comparison groups. Within the consent group, for all the above questions, findings were similar for mothers approached for multiple studies (n=18) and those approached for only one (n=9). Conclusion: Despite common assumptions to the contrary, we found no evidence that seeking informed consent compromised maternal satisfaction. This issue deserves further study. In the absence of additional data, informed consent sought by well-trained supportive staff should not be assumed to compromise patient satisfaction.