Interruptions, persons going in and out of a patient’s room, have been an unrecognized institutional barrier to the breastfeeding (BF) process. But postpartum staff, lactation consultants, and mothers say that interruptions are a significant problem in providing care and BF support. Previously reported results from a level 3 university hospital indicated that mothers experienced an average of 52 interruptions/12 hrs, range 32-70, the average private time between interruptions was 7.8 minutes, s.d. 14.14, and the mothers experienced 14 hrs of contact time during the 12 hrs. Nursing staff were responsible for 38% of the interruptions, though family members spent the most time in the room. Interruptions may add to the stress mothers are already experiencing which can lead to BF difficulties and delayed lactogenesis II. Purpose: Compare the frequency, duration, and source of interruptions to the mother-infant dyad on the 1st postpartum day among level 1, level 2, and level 3 hospitals. Theoretical Framework: Barnard’s Parent-Child Interaction Model focusing on the inanimate environment and Anderson’s mutual care-giving model. Subjects: 90 healthy BF mothers who delivered healthy newborns vaginally, 30 from each hospital. Method: For this descriptive exploratory study research assistants sat outside mother’s room from 0800 to 2000 on PD1 recording the frequency and duration of interruptions. Each person entering was asked to identify themselves as professional staff, ancillary personnel, family, or visitor. The number of BF was recorded from the infant's record and confirmed by maternal self-report. Results: Descriptive statistics for each hospital and comparisons will be presented. Conclusions: Interruptions are not unique to Level 3 research hospitals. They are an inanimate environmental barrier that previously has not been described. Further research is needed to understand the effects of interruptions on the breastfeeding process and maternal stress. Strategies need to be developed to increase private time for mother-infant dyads.
Session #1219 - Poster Session I
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)