Feasibility and acceptability of an early home visit intervention aimed at supporting a positive mother–infant relationship for mothers at risk of postpartum depression

Greve, Rakel Aasheim; Braarud, Hanne Cecilie; Skotheim, Siv; Slinning, Kari

doi:10.1111/scs.12589

“…In addition, the intervention also includes speci c elements concerning sleep/sleep protection and strategies for supporting and comforting the baby. These results correspond well with the results from another Norwegian study of the feasibility and acceptability of the NBO showing that parents rated the intervention as highly useful with regard to understanding the behavioural cues of their infants (44). It should be mentioned that the comparison group also received follow-up by skilled health care professionals and provided high ratings as the NBO group on general satisfaction with the follow-up, the practical guidance and the relationship with the health care worker.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The NBO has been delivered between 1 and 3 times in hospital and/or home settings. These studies suggest that the NBO can increase maternal engagement (40), sensitivity (41) and understanding of the child's capacities and behavioural cues (40,43,44). This may contribute to feeling more con dent as a mother (43).…”

Section: The Newborn Behavioral Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: Results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby).

Høifødt¹,

Nordahl

²

,

Landsem³

et al. 2020

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Background: Families can experience the postpartum period as overwhelming and many report a special need for support. The Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) aims to promote a positive parent-infant relationship by sensitising parents to the infant’s signals. This article evaluates the NBO as a universal preventive intervention within the regular well-baby clinic service on measures of maternal depressive symptoms, parental stress, the mother-infant relationship and satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.Methods : This investigation is part of a larger longitudinal study comprising 220 women and 130 of their partners recruited between 2015 and 2017. The study had a non-randomised cluster-controlled design with 6 measurement points. This article is based on a sample of 196 women using data from T1 (gestational weeks 13-39), T4 (5-15 weeks postpartum) and T5 (3-9 months postpartum). Participants were allocated to a group receiving the NBO (n=82) and a care as usual comparison group (n=114). We measured maternal depressive symptoms and parental stress using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The mother-infant relationship was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (MCQ). Participants also answered questions about satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up. Results: A Mann-Whitney U test indicated that participants in the NBO-group learned significantly more than the comparison group from the follow-up about the baby’s signals in relation to sleep/sleep patterns, social interaction and crying/fuzziness. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) and repeated measures ANCOVA found no significant differences between the groups for the mother-infant relationship domains and few differences in depressive symptoms and parental stress. The repeated measures ANCOVA found that participants in the NBO-group scored slightly higher on parental stress, although the difference was small. Conclusions: The results indicate that the NBO-group learned more than the comparison group about reading their child’s signals in important everyday situations. However, the benefits of the NBO were limited for depressive symptoms, parental stress and self-reported mother-infant relationship. The study sample was generally well-functioning, and the results indicate that the benefits of the NBO may be limited within a well-functioning sample.

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“…In addition, the intervention also includes specific elements concerning sleep/sleep protection and strategies for supporting and comforting the baby. These results correspond well with the results from another Norwegian study of the feasibility and acceptability of the NBO showing that parents rated the intervention as highly useful with regard to understanding the behavioural cues of their infants (43). It should be mentioned that the comparison group also received follow-up by skilled health care professionals and provided high ratings as the NBO group on general satisfaction with the follow-up, the practical guidance and the relationship with the health care worker.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Studies suggest that the NBO can increase maternal engagement (40), sensitivity (41) and understanding of the child's capacities and behavioural cues (40,42,43). This may contribute to feeling more confident as a mother (42).…”

Section: The Newborn Behavioral Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: Results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby).

Høifødt¹,

Nordahl

²

,

Landsem³

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Families can experience the postpartum period as overwhelming and many report a special need for support. The Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) aims to promote a positive parent-infant relationship by sensitising parents to the infant’s signals. This article evaluates the NBO as a universal preventive intervention within the regular well-baby clinic service on measures of maternal depressive symptoms, parental stress, the mother-infant relationship and satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.Methods This investigation is part of a larger longitudinal study comprising 220 women and 130 of their partners recruited between 2015 and 2017. The study had a non-randomised cluster-controlled design with 6 measurement points. This article is based on a sample of 196 women using data from T1 (gestational weeks 13-39), T4 (5-15 weeks postpartum) and T5 (3-9 months postpartum). Participants were allocated to a group receiving the NBO (n=82) and a care as usual comparison group (n=114). We measured maternal depressive symptoms and parental stress using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The mother-infant relationship was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (MCQ). Participants also answered questions about satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.Results Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) and repeated measures ANCOVA found no significant differences between the groups for the mother-infant relationship domains and few differences in depressive symptoms and parental stress. The repeated measures ANCOVA found that participants in the NBO-group scored slightly higher on parental stress, although the difference was small. A Mann-Whitney U test indicated that participants in the NBO-group learned significantly more than the comparison group from the follow-up about the baby’s signals in relation to sleep/sleep patterns, social interaction and crying/fuzziness.Conclusions The results indicate that the NBO-group learned more than the comparison group about reading their child’s signals in important everyday situations. However, the benefits of the NBO were limited for depressive symptoms, parental stress and mother-infant relationship measures. The study sample was generally well-functioning, and the results indicate that the benefits of the NBO may be limited within a well-functioning sample.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials, NCT02538497, Registered 2 September 2015, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02538497?term=northern+babies&draw=1&rank=1

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“…By increasing parental competence and confidence the intervention may contribute to more sensitive parenting and a positive parent-infant relationship. Previous studies have included first time mothers of healthy infants in the US [40][41][42] and Norway (qualitative study [43];), as well as mothers in risk of depression (Norwegian feasibility study [44];). The NBO has been delivered between 1 and 3 times in hospital and/or home settings.…”

Section: The Newborn Behavioral Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby)

Høifødt

¹

,

Nordahl

²

,

Landsem

³

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Families can experience the postpartum period as overwhelming and many report a special need for support. The Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) aims to promote a positive parent-infant relationship by sensitising parents to the infant's signals. This article evaluates the NBO as a universal preventive intervention within the regular well-baby clinic service on measures of maternal depressive symptoms, parental stress, the motherinfant relationship and satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up. Methods: This investigation is part of a larger longitudinal study comprising 220 women and 130 of their partners recruited between 2015 and 2017. The study had a non-randomised cluster-controlled design with 6 measurement points. This article is based on a sample of 196 women using data from T1 (gestational weeks 13-39), T4 (5-15 weeks postpartum) and T5 (3-9 months postpartum). Participants were allocated to a group receiving the NBO (n = 82) and a care as usual comparison group (n = 114). We measured maternal depressive symptoms and parental stress using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The motherinfant relationship was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (MCQ). Participants also answered questions about satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.

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Feasibility and acceptability of an early home visit intervention aimed at supporting a positive mother–infant relationship for mothers at risk of postpartum depression

Abstract: This study showed that the NBO conducted in home visits is a feasible and acceptable intervention for both parents and healthcare workers within the well-baby clinic services. A future clinical trial protocol needs adjustments related to data collection.

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: Results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby).

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: Results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby).

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: Results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby).

Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby)

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