Abstract
Background: Maternal–infant feeding interactions are a primary context for engagement between mothers and their infants, and constitute a unique space in which reciprocity, attunement and maternal sensitivity can be expressed. Increasingly, research demonstrates the importance of the psychological and social nature of the feeding context, and how it may be affected by maternal mental state, feeding skills and sensitivity. As such, feeding interactions may provide useful contexts for observations of maternal sensitivity, reflecting well on day-to-day maternal sensitivity.
Aims and Objectives: This paper is a post hoc examination of the impact of an intervention on maternal sensitivity during a feeding interaction when the infants were 6 months old.
Participants: A total of 449 women consented to participate in the original intervention and were randomly assigned to the intervention or control groups. Mothers and infants were assessed during pregnancy, and then at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months of infant age. At the 6 month follow-up visit, 79% (354 out of 449) of the participants were retained. Post hoc analyses were conducted on the original sample to determine breastfeeding status. Sixty-nine percent of the women completed the feeding observation at the 6 months follow-up visit, of which 47% reported exclusively breastfeeding and 22% reported bottle-feeding.
Results: Results demonstrated that during a feeding interaction, maternal sensitivity was significantly improved among non-breastfeeding mothers who received the intervention. Particularly, maternal responsiveness to infant cues and synchronous interactions was higher among non-breastfeeding intervention mothers compared to control group mothers. The results also show that non-breastfeeding mothers who received the intervention were significantly less intrusive in their interactions with their infants.
Conclusion: The intervention had particular beneficial effects for mothers who were not breastfeeding and suggest that the intervention offered a protective effect for non-breastfeeding mothers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 850-858 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Infant Mental Health Journal |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 15 Jul 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 22 Nov 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:informationThis study was supported by a grant (B574100) from the Wellcome Trust.We would like to acknowledge the Parent Centre for providing the infrastructure for the recruitment and training of the community workers. We thank the community workers, data collectors and coders for their contributions to this study. We are especially indebted to the mothers and children who took part in this study.
Funding Information:
This study was supported by a grant (B574100) from the Wellcome Trust.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health
Keywords
- allaiter au sein
- amamantamiento
- breastfeeding
- desarrollarse
- entrometimiento
- Gedeihen
- Interacción madre-infante
- interaction mère-bébé
- intrusiveness
- Intrusivität
- intrusivité
- mother–infant interaction
- Mutter-Kind-Interaktion
- sensibilidad
- Sensibilität
- sensibilité
- sensitivity
- Stillen
- s’épanouir
- التفاعل بين الأم والرضيع، الرضاعة الطبيعية، التدخل، الحساسية، النمو
- 侵襲
- 健康に成長する
- 干预
- 感受性
- 敏感度
- 母-乳児相互作用
- 母乳喂养
- 母乳育児
- 母婴互动
- 茁壮成长
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
