Support for first time mothers

The results of a study about the support that first-time mothers received and how it related to their confidence in care fo their infant.

"This paper reports a study whose primary aim was to explore the relationship between social support for first-time mothers and their confidence in infant care practices. A secondary aim was to identify their sources of support in the postnatal period."

Results of the study showed that new mothers that received "appraisal support" had a statistically significant moderate relationship with confidence in infant care practices. Those mothers that received "nformational support" had a weaker but statistically significant relationship.

Primarily, "appraisal support" came from partners and their own mothers, while "informational support" came from public health nurses and mothers.

The study concluded that "first time mothers' husbands/partners need to become active participants in antenatal and postnatal care. Interdisciplinary educational programmes need to be developed so that public health nurses and midwives work collaboratively in facilitating social support for first-time mothers in caring for their infants. Curricula for public health nurses and midwives need to be evidenced-based with respect to social support."

Leahy, Warren P. First-time mothers: social support and confidence in infant care. J Adv Nurs. 2005 Jun;50(5):479-88.