Responding to a crying infant - You do not learn it overnight: A phenomenological study

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• 作者：Elisabeth Kurth ; RM ; PhD^a ; ^b ; ^c ; ^{elisabeth.kurth@zhaw.ch" class="auth_mail} (Lecturer ; research associate) ; Holly Powell Kennedy ; PhD ; CNM ; FACNM ; FAAN^d (Professor of Midwifery) ; Elisabeth Zemp Stutz ; MD ; MPH^c ; ^e (Professor of Public Health) ; Annemarie Kesselring ; RN ; PhD^b (Professor emerita of Nursing Science) ; Isabel Fornaro ; RCM ; BSc^f (Registered Midwife) ; Elisabeth Spichiger ; RN ; PhD^b ; ^g (Lecturer ; scientific collaborator)
• 关键词：Infant crying ; Parenting ; Postnatal care ; Qualitative research
• 刊名：Midwifery
• 出版年：June 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：30
• 期：6
• 页码：742-749
• 全文大小：295 K

文摘

to examine the views and practices of first-time and experienced mothers in response to infant crying during the first 12 weeks post birth.

Design

longitudinal, qualitative study using an interpretive, phenomenological approach.

Setting

postnatal hospital and home settings in Switzerland.

Participants

maximum variation sampling of 15 new mothers of diverse parity and educational background who had given birth to a full-term healthy neonate.

Methods

participant observations in the postnatal ward and two narrative interviews at participants' homes at 6–8 and 12–14 weeks post partum. Data analysis used interpretive approaches of case analysis, thematic analysis and exemplars.

Findings

first-time mothers showed some soothing skills from the beginning, but fine-tuned their practices of handling the crying infant and managing their own reactions. With growing experience mothers acquired a differentiated understanding of the crying's reason and urgency and used more successful soothing techniques. At the same time they learned to assess and mitigate their own stress reactions by self-soothing and adopting realistic expectations of normal infant behaviour. Experienced mothers knew the infant's frequent crying would diminish after a while whereas first-time mothers coped without this positive expectation.

Key conclusions

with increasing child-care experience mothers' skills and attitudes towards crying changed, leading to a calmer and less escalating response to their crying infant.

Implications for practice

inexperienced mothers need information on neonatal crying behaviour and on parents' stress response. They should be taught how to recognise and respond to the new-born's signals, and how to cope with their own stress. Postnatal care should provide novice mothers to learn from experienced role models.