Enhancing early bonding between mothers and preterm infants: findings from a Multicentre Qualitative Study of Nurses.
Nopi Nur Khasanah, Yeni Rustina, Dessie Wanda and 1 others
PMID 39319885WHAT IT FOUND
Neonatal nurses described stabilising the mother's physical and mental health before facilitating bonding, using repeated education, accompaniment during visits, and involving family members.
Barriers included maternal fear, limited family support, nurse workload, and hospital infrastructure issues like lack of waiting rooms.
Key findings
01Nurses prioritise stabilising the mother's physical and psychological state as the first step to enable her to interact with her preterm infant.
02Key nursing interventions include encouraging physical touch, providing repeated education, accompanying mothers during NICU visits, and offering lactation massage.
03Barriers to facilitating bonding include mothers' fear and negative self-perception, limited family availability, high nurse workload, and inadequate hospital infrastructure such as lack of waiting rooms and restricted visiting hours.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted in four public hospitals in one city in a developing country, limiting generalisability to other healthcare systems. All participants were female, married, Muslim, and Javanese, so findings may not reflect the perspectives of male nurses, unmarried mothers, or other cultural/religious groups. The small sample size (13 nurses) and specific inclusion criteria (team leaders with >5 years experience) mean the results reflect the experiences of senior staff, not necessarily newer nurses.
Declared interests
The text does not explicitly state conflicts of interest or funding sources, though ethical approval was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee of each participating hospital.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these findings as evidence that specific bonding interventions improve infant clinical outcomes. The study reports nurses' perceptions and practices; it does not measure the effectiveness of these strategies on mother-infant attachment or infant development.