A survey was conducted recently, assessing the quality and quantity of advice given to new mothers regarding infant care.
The results, as published in Pediatrics, reveal that new moms do not receive adequate advice from doctors regarding important matters like immunization, breastfeeding, sleep position, sleep location and pacifier use. It also showed statistics regarding major sources where moms usually receive advice from doctors, birth hospital nurses, family and media.
The survey, called "SAFE", (Study of Attitudes and Factors Effecting Infant Care Practices) included a representative sample of 1,031 mothers, who had infants aged two to six months. They were from different states in the country, all belonging to different races.
According to the Slone Epidemiology Center, the survey included an "over-sampling of African-Americans, who traditionally have exhibited lower adherence to safe sleep recommendations and higher rates of or SIDS." SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
The survey used simple "yes" or "no" questions that asked respondents if whether they have received such advice about the said topics and from what source it was. The questions also determine whether the advice they receive was recommended consistently.
Study findings report that though doctors were the most prevalent source of advice, 20 percent of the moms reported that there was no doctor-given advice regarding breastfeeding and sleep position, and more than 50 percent received no advice regarding infant sleep location or pacifier usage. The prevalence of advice from family and media sources was at 20 to 56 percent for nearly all of infant care practices.
Nurses were reported to give advice that is generally consistent with those of doctors' recommendations. The advice from family and media, however, was often inconsistent.
Additionally, it was found that, in general, black and Hispanic first-time mothers were more likely than white mothers to receive recommendation consistent advice.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, shows different professionals' thoughts.
"As a physician, these findings made me stop and really think about how we communicate important information to new parents," said the study's first author, Staci R. Eisenberg, M.D., a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center. "We may need to be clearer and more specific in telling new mothers about safe sleep recommendations. From a public health perspective, there is a real opportunity to engage families and the media to promote infant health."
"Earlier studies have shown that new mothers listen to their physicians," said Marian Willinger, Ph.D., of the Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch at NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
"This survey shows that physicians have an opportunity to provide new mothers with much-needed advice on how to improve infant health and even save infant lives," she adds.
