Viglione Clare, Cherkerzian Sara, Timpson Wendy, Liu Cindy H, Woodward Lianne J, Belfort Mandy B
Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Children (Basel). 2022 Feb 21;9(2):296. doi: 10.3390/children9020296.
Maternal milk (MM) intake during neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization is associated with improved neurodevelopment in preterm infants. Underlying mechanisms may include stronger mother-infant emotional connection. This paper examines associations between MM provision in the NICU with maternal connection to her infant using three factors validated in our sample: maternal sensitivity, emotional concern, and positive interaction/engagement. We studied 70 mothers of infants born <1500 g and/or <32 weeks' gestation. Associations between MM provision and mother-infant connection were modeled using median regression adjusted for clustering. Mothers who provided exclusive MM (i.e., 100% MM, no other milk) reported higher levels of maternal sensitivity by a median score of 2 units (β = 2.00, 95% CI: 0.76, 3.24, = 0.002) than the mixed group (i.e., MM < 100% days, other milk ≥1 days), as well as greater emotional concern (β = 3.00, 95% CI: -0.002, 6.00, = 0.05). Among mothers of very preterm infants, greater milk provision was associated with greater maternal sensitivity, but also with greater emotional concern about meeting the infant's needs. These findings highlight the importance of supporting MM provision and early infant care as an integrated part of lactation support. The findings may also provide insight into links between MM provision in the NICU and infant neurodevelopment.
新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）住院期间摄入母乳（MM）与早产儿神经发育改善有关。潜在机制可能包括母婴情感联系增强。本文使用在我们样本中验证的三个因素：母亲敏感性、情感关怀和积极互动/参与，研究了NICU中提供母乳与母亲和婴儿之间联系的关联。我们研究了70名出生体重<1500克和/或孕周<32周婴儿的母亲。使用针对聚类进行调整的中位数回归对提供母乳与母婴联系之间的关联进行建模。提供纯母乳（即100%母乳，无其他奶类）的母亲报告的母亲敏感性中位数得分比混合组（即母乳天数<100%，其他奶类≥1天）高2分（β = 2.00，95%置信区间：0.76，3.24，P = 0.002），情感关怀也更强（β = 3.00，95%置信区间：-0.002，6.00，P = 0.05）。在极早产儿的母亲中，更多的奶类供应与更高的母亲敏感性相关，但也与对满足婴儿需求的更强情感关怀相关。这些发现强调了支持提供母乳和早期婴儿护理作为泌乳支持一部分整合内容的重要性。这些发现还可能为NICU中提供母乳与婴儿神经发育之间的联系提供见解。
