Infant carrying method impacts caregiver posture and loading during gait and item retrieval.
Kathryn L Havens, Anna C Severin, David B Bumpass and 1 others
PMID 32502794WHAT IT FOUND
Carrying an infant mannequin, in arms or a carrier, increased ground forces during walking.
Women lifted from the floor with less trunk bending, and in-arms carrying increased knee flexion. The movement changes were small and not shown to cause pain or injury.
Key findings
01Carrying the mannequin increased vertical and braking ground reaction forces during walking compared with unloaded, and carrier and in-arms were similar for vertical force.
02During retrieval, stoop was used only in the unloaded condition, and carrying reduced trunk flexion, while in-arms carrying increased knee flexion.
03The movement differences were small and their clinical significance was unclear.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only healthy nulliparous women with no babywearing experience were tested, so results may not apply to postpartum mothers, other caregivers, or people with symptoms. The study used infant mannequins, not living infants. Short overground walking and limited retrieval trials may not reflect daily carrying. Joint moments were not analyzed, and the clinical significance of the small movement differences was unclear.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration; the publication types indicate NIH and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that babywearing prevents pain or injury. The study measured healthy women carrying mannequins in a lab and found only small movement changes, with unclear clinical significance.