2012 Volume 26 Issue 2 Pages 264-274
Objective
With child rearing starting immediately after childbirth, there is a strong possibility of postnatal depression due to inexperience of the mother combined with irregular rhythms of the newborn to create perception of a large burden for the mother. This study used the Nursing Child Assessment of Feeding Scale (NCAFS) to observe the infant's behavioral state, cues during breastfeeding, and mother's responses on the fourth day after birth, and recorded the interactions of the mother and infant. This study also evaluated use of the NCAFS as an early postnatal measurement tool.
Methods
A descriptive study was conducted to elucidate early postnatal mother-infant interactions and cues for these interactions in accordance with the component observation items (NCAFS). Subjects were primiparous mothers and infants hospitalized in a medical institution on the fourth day after birth. Observation was conducted using a network camera and microphone fixed inside the mother's room, with a digital video camera used for recording after breastfeeding started. Analysis was applied by evaluating the scenes from the start until the end of breastfeeding in accordance with the 76 NCAFS items (score range 0-76). Also, the actions of the mother and infant were written down. This study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the authors' institution and the institution where the study was conducted.
Results
Breastfeeding scenes of 10 mother-infant dyads were recorded and observed. Breastfeeding frequency during the recorded period was a mean of 2.1 times (SD=0.7), with a mean duration of breastfeeding of 11.3minutes (SD=4.2). The NCAFS mean score was 54.1 points (SD=6.1). mother-infant dyads were chosen who scored lower compared to other subjects (
NCAFS was applied to observation of breastfeeding interactions between the primiparous mother and infant on the fourth day after birth, elucidating the characteristics of mother-infant interactions such as the infant's cues and the mother's responses. The possibility of setting a NCAFS cut-off score for mother and infant within 1 week postnatal, and using Japanese NCAFS in longitudinal follow-up of mother and infant was suggested.
