Effects of relaxation therapy on maternal psychological status and infant growth following late preterm and early-term delivery: a randomized controlled trial

Jinyue Yu; Zhuang Wei; Jonathan Ck Wells; Mary Fewtrell

doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2022.12.002

Effects of relaxation therapy on maternal psychological status and infant growth following late preterm and early-term delivery: a randomized controlled trial

Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Feb;117(2):340-349. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2022.12.002. Epub 2022 Dec 22.

Authors

Jinyue Yu¹, Zhuang Wei², Jonathan Ck Wells¹, Mary Fewtrell³

Affiliations

¹ Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
² Department of Child Healthcare, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, China.
³ Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: m.fewtrell@ucl.ac.uk.

PMID: 36811573
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2022.12.002

Abstract

Background: Maternal stress is one modifiable variable that could influence mother-infant signaling and negatively affect breastfeeding and infant growth.

Objectives: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that relaxation therapy would reduce maternal stress and improve infant growth, behavior, and breastfeeding outcomes after late preterm (LP) and early-term (ET) delivery.

Methods: A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted in healthy Chinese primiparous mother-infant pairs after LP or ET delivery (34⁺⁰-37⁺⁶ gestation weeks). Mothers were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG, listening to relaxation meditation at least once a day) or control group (CG, normal care). Primary outcomes-changes in maternal stress (perceived stress scale), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory), and infant weight and length standard deviation score-were assessed at 1 wk and 8 wks postpartum. Secondary outcomes-breast milk energy and macronutrient composition, maternal breastfeeding attitudes, infant behaviors (3-d diary), and 24-hour milk intake-were assessed at 8 wks.

Results: In total, 96 mother-infant pairs were recruited. There was a significantly greater reduction in maternal perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale score) (mean difference [MD] = 2.65; 95% CI: 0.8, 4.5) and significantly greater infant weight standard deviation score gain (MD = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.9) from 1 wk to 8 wks in the IG than those in the CG. Exploratory analyses showed a significant interaction between intervention and sex, with greater effects on weight gain in female infants. Mothers of female infants used the intervention more frequently with significantly higher milk energy observed at 8 wks.

Conclusions: The relaxation meditation tape is a simple, effective practical tool that could easily be used in clinical settings to support breastfeeding mothers after LP and ET delivery. The findings need confirmation in larger groups and in other populations.

Keywords: breastfeeding; infant weight; lactation; maternal stress; milk intake; mother–infant signaling.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Breast Feeding*
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Milk, Human
Mothers / psychology
Relaxation Therapy*
Single-Blind Method
Weight Gain