Lau Chantal
Department of Pediatrics/Neonatology, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston, Texas.
Breastfeed Med. 2018 Jan/Feb;13(1):8-17. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2016.0206. Epub 2017 Oct 19.
Breastfeeding is an experience that only a mother and her infant(s) can share. Infants who can feed from the breast receive not only the best nutrition but also, due to the close physical contact between mother and child, it is the optimal nurturance they can receive from their mother. When breastfeeding is trouble free, maternal well-being is uniquely heightened. However, breastfeeding remains a challenge for many mother-infant dyads and more so for those whose infants are born prematurely. This article introduces a conceptual model of the breastfeeding challenges facing preterm mother-infant dyads. It distinguishes between a maternal caregiving and an infant growth/development components. Within the maternal component, two primary elements are considered, that is, maternal behavioral and nutritional care. The two primary elements within the infant component include infant non-nutritional and nutritional growth/development. It is proposed that an improved understanding of the factors associated with these four elements and how they interplay with each other within individual dyads will facilitate the identification of the breastfeeding challenges facing these mother-infant entities. Due to the intimate relationships existing between a mother and her infant(s), it is further advanced that breastfeeding studies would be optimized if mother-infant pairs are studied as one entity rather than mother and infant separately. It is proposed that this conceptual model will assist health professionals develop personalized breastfeeding management plans for individual preterm mother-infant dyads, while furthering the development of evidence-based interventions to optimize their breastfeeding experiences.
母乳喂养是一种只有母亲和她的婴儿才能共享的体验。能够进行母乳喂养的婴儿不仅能获得最佳营养，而且由于母婴之间亲密的身体接触，这也是他们从母亲那里能得到的最佳养育方式。当母乳喂养顺利时，母亲的幸福感会显著增强。然而，母乳喂养对许多母婴对来说仍然是一项挑战，对于那些婴儿早产的母婴对来说更是如此。本文介绍了早产母婴对面临的母乳喂养挑战的概念模型。它区分了母亲照顾和婴儿生长/发育两个组成部分。在母亲部分，考虑了两个主要因素，即母亲的行为照顾和营养照顾。婴儿部分的两个主要因素包括婴儿的非营养性和营养性生长/发育。有人提出，更好地理解与这四个因素相关的因素以及它们在个体母婴对中如何相互作用，将有助于识别这些母婴实体面临的母乳喂养挑战。由于母亲和她的婴儿之间存在亲密关系，进一步提出，如果将母婴对作为一个整体而不是分别研究母亲和婴儿，母乳喂养研究将得到优化。有人提出，这个概念模型将帮助健康专业人员为个体早产母婴对制定个性化的母乳喂养管理计划，同时推动基于证据的干预措施的发展，以优化他们的母乳喂养体验。
