Instilling discipline at a young age

From a recent Iowa Court of Appeals decision:

The reported incidents included: (1) the biological father spanking Nicholas while he was a newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit...

Now, surely some of you will note that I am not a parent and don't know what it's like to be one, but how could anyone possibly think that newborns had the intellectual capacity to understand concepts such as punishment for misbehavior? (Unless he was a Scientologist who was trying to instill some engrams.)