The effect of breastfeeding on mother-infant bonding

Abstract

Topic Overview: Breastfeeding, further known as nursing, involves feeding a baby or young child milk from a woman’s breast. It is to be preferably commenced within the first hour of a baby’s life and continued as often as the baby needs. Evidently, it is the most natural way to nourish since it not only provides all nutritional value, but it also satisfies the baby’s hunger and thirst. For this reason, it is highly recommended by health professionals. However, there is a recurring question whether breastfeeding impacts a mother’s attachment to her baby and vice versa. A research question was formulated to clarify the role of breastfeeding on mother-infant bonding.

The research question: Does breastfeeding effect the bond between a mother and her infant when compared to not breastfeeding?

PICO elements: The population (P): mothers and infants. The intervention (I): breastfeeding. The comparison (C): not breastfeeding. The final desired outcome (O): bond between a mother and her infant.

Method: The key elements of the PICO question were used as key terms to generate alternative terms. These terms were combined using the Boolean Operators together with the application of limiters to narrow down the search results. The combined terms were searched in Hydi which is the University of Malta database and furthermore through EBSCO, Science Direct, ProQuest Central, PubMed and Advanced Google Scholar. The PRISMA 2009 checklist (Appendix 1) was used to exclude irrelevant articles. The inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied in order to assess the eligibility of the articles (Table 2.7). A total of five key studies were retrieved and the Critical Appraisal Skills

Program (CASP) tool was used to critically appraise the literature. Local experts were contacted in order to view the current relationship between the topic under study and the local setting. Ethical issues were also considered. Results: Findings indicate that there is no particular effect on the mother-infant bond in relation to the feeding method. Inconsistencies were found upon comparing the methods and findings of the key studies and the results were interpreted with caution. Although a conclusive answer was not obtained, breastfeeding was always described as a positive role in all studies. Furthermore, it was noted that a very few studies have been conducted to date upon the topic of interest.

Conclusion: A definite conclusion may not be presented, yet the overall gathered evidence led to a positive inclination towards breastfeeding. More research is definitely required in the area in order to answer the PICO question.

Implications and Recommendations: Besides learning the need for further research to ascertain the intervention’s effectiveness, more education must be given to health care professionals and to the general public. The development of an appropriate bonding measuring tool is also required for future studies. In addition, emphasis is made on the importance of collaboration between stakeholders to teach, guide and support pregnant women and mothers. The management is responsible for providing guidelines for practice and encouraging individuals to take part in future studies. This is also beneficial way to promote health.