Infant Massage and Infant Growth, Mother-Infant Attachment, and Maternal Self-Confidence

June 27, 2022 updated by: Zubeyde Ezgi Ercelik, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University

The Effect of Infant Massage on Infant Growth, Mother-Infant Attachment, and Maternal Self-Confidence

Touch is an essential element in the healthy growth and development of the baby. Infant massage is the best way to touch babies. In line with the literature review on the subject, it has been reported that infant massage supports growth and development in infants, improves attachment between mothers and babies and decreases the level of depression and anxiety in mothers.

With the coronavirus pandemic, quarantine decisions have been implemented all over the world. In addition to the stress brought on by their new roles, new mothers have to cope with the anxiety and stress of being a parent and babysitting during the pandemic period. During the pandemic process, it is seen that depression and anxiety levels increase in mothers who have given birth, and maternal attachment is negatively affected. Depression and anxiety in mothers negatively affect the cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of babies. It is very important to encourage practices that increase mother-infant interaction, such as infant massage, during the pandemic period.

The universe of the research will consist of mothers and their babies who were followed up in İzmir Karşıyaka No. 8 Gülay Kaymak Family Health Center and Karşıyaka No. 4 Bostanlı-2 Family Health Center between May 2021 and May 2022. The sample of the study is 38-42. It is planned to create babies born in the 4th week of pregnancy, with a birth weight of over 2500 grams and who have completed their fourth week (one month old) (n:60).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The sense of touch is the most developed sense in newborns and is very important in perceiving the environment. The sense of touch in newborn babies is well developed throughout the body, especially on the tongue, lips, ears and forehead. When the baby is touched and held, he communicates with his environment and caregiver, and begins to recognize his environment. The sense of touch also positively affects the psychosocial development of babies. Infant massage is the best way to touch the baby. In recent years, research on infant massage has been the focus of the literature. When the literature is examined; it is seen that the positive effects of baby massage that support the growth and development of babies are proven by scientific research.

Attachment is defined as a situation that begins with the birth of the baby and has a predominant emotional aspect. The basic sense of trust formed between the mother and the baby in the early stages of life supports the psychosocial development of the baby. Touch, which is an effective method in providing and developing the interaction between the baby and the mother, affects the attachment positively. Infant massage is one of the easiest and most natural ways to develop mother-infant attachment. Studies show that infant massage strengthens the attachment between mothers and babies.

Baby massage also increases the mother's self-confidence in baby care. In the postpartum period, parents enter a new period in which they have to adapt to new roles, deal with baby care and the problems they experience with the baby. This period can sometimes cause problems such as lack of self-confidence, stress, anxiety and fear in mothers. The fear, anxiety and stress experienced by mothers regarding infant care can negatively affect mother-infant attachment. When the studies were examined, it was reported that the self-confidence score of the mothers who massaged was higher than the mothers in the control group in the study of with low birth weight babies and their mothers. In the qualitative study, mothers who apply baby massage defined massage as "a relaxing practice that provides emotional and physical contact with their babies". In addition, mothers stated that massage increased their self-confidence regarding the role of motherhood.

A newborn baby is born with about 100 billion neurons. Connections begin to form between neurons in the brain, especially in the first year after birth. While connections are formed with the warnings and experiences they receive throughout their lives; Neurons that do not receive enough stimulation die because they cannot make new connections. In babies who are given positive stimuli, intercellular connections are intense and their intelligence levels are positively affected. During the first two years of life, the rate of development of connections between neurons is quite high. Infant massage applied in these years contributes to the strengthening of the nervous system. The brain development of babies who are deprived of physical contact is adversely affected. Therefore, touch is an indispensable element in both the physical growth and development of the baby and the brain development.

In Turkey, no training is given on infant massage in family health centers. However, the positive effects of massage on babies and mothers have been demonstrated by scientific research. The role of nurses in mother-infant interaction is very important, making applications that support mother-infant interaction in the postpartum period and guiding mothers in this process is an important nursing practice. While nurses are training mothers, they should provide infant massage training within infant care routines, counsel mothers on infant massage and encourage them.

This study was designed in a randomized controlled, pre-test-post-test experimental model to examine the effects of infant massage on growth, mother-infant attachment, and mothers' self-confidence.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
    • Karşıyaka
      • İzmir, Karşıyaka, Turkey
        • Karşıyaka 4 No'lu Bostanlı- 2 Aile Sağlığı Merkezi
      • İzmir, Karşıyaka, Turkey
        • Karşıyaka 8 Nolu Gülay Kaymak Aile Sağlığı Merkezi

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

4 weeks to 4 weeks (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The mother knows how to read, write and use a computer,
  • The mother's consent to participate in the study,
  • Babies 38-42. to be born at the gestational week and to have a birth weight of over 2500 grams and to have completed the fourth week.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Multiple pregnancy
  • The mother has a disease or disability that prevents her from massaging her baby.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Massage group
The massage group will be shown live one-to-one baby massage training via Microsoft Teams by the researcher, and the mother will be asked to apply it to her baby at the same time. Baby massage training; It consists of leg massage, face-abdominal massage, arm-chest massage and back massage and will be completed in four weeks.
Behavioral: Infant Massage
The training will start with a leg massage in the first session and the mother will be asked to do this once a day until the next lesson. The next week, the new massage movement will be shown to the mother and the training will continue, and the mother will be told to do the application throughout the week by integrating it with the previous movement this time, and the four-week training will be completed in this way. After the training, which massage movement was taught to the mothers every week, the application pictures of this part will be sent and at the end of the four-week training, the baby massage video and the baby massage guide will be sent to the mothers by e-mail.
No Intervention: Control group
Infant massage training will not be given to the mothers of the babies in the control group until the 20th week.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI)
Time Frame: end of week 4
The MAI is a 26-item self-report questionnaire used to measure mother-child attachment. Each item represents a maternal activity (e.g. 'I tell others about my baby') or feeling (e.g. 'I feel love for my child') which indicates affection towards the child. Items are scored on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost never)-4 (almost always). Total MAI scores range from 26-104, with higher scores indicating greater maternal attachment. The mean score of mother attachment inventory (pre-intervention assessment)
end of week 4
Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI)
Time Frame: end of week 20
The MAI is a 26-item self-report questionnaire used to measure mother-child attachment. Each item represents a maternal activity (e.g. 'I tell others about my baby') or feeling (e.g. 'I feel love for my child') which indicates affection towards the child. Items are scored on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost never)-4 (almost always). Total MAI scores range from 26-104, with higher scores indicating greater maternal attachment. The mean score of mother attachment inventory (post-intervention assessment)
end of week 20
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 4
The mean of baseline weight (in grams)
end of week 4
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 8
The mean change in body weight from end of week 4 to end of week 8 (in grams)
end of week 8
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 12
The mean change in body weight from end of week 8 to end of week 12 (in grams)
end of week 12
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 16
The mean change in body weight from end of week 12 to week end of 16 (in grams)
end of week 16
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 20
The mean change in body weight from end of week 16 to week end of 20 (in grams)
end of week 20
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 4
The mean of baseline body length (in centimeters)
end of week 4
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 8
The mean change in body length from end of week 4 to end of week 8 (in centimeters)
end of week 8
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 12
The mean change in body length from end of week 8 to end of week 12 (in centimeters)
end of week 12
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 16
The mean change in body length from end of week 12 to end of week 16 (in centimeters)
end of week 16
Growth Parameter
Time Frame: end of week 20
The mean change in body length from end of week 16 to end of week 20 (in centimeters)
end of week 20
Head circumference
Time Frame: end of week 4
The mean of baseline head circumference (in centimeters)
end of week 4
Head circumference
Time Frame: end of week 8
The mean change in head circumference from end of week 4 to end of week 8 (in centimeters)
end of week 8
Head circumference
Time Frame: end of week 12
The mean change in head circumference from end of week 8 to end of week 12 (in centimeters)
end of week 12
Head circumference
Time Frame: end of week 16
The mean change in head circumference from end of week 12 to end of week 16 (in centimeters)
end of week 16
Head circumference
Time Frame: end of week 20
The mean change in head circumference from end of week 16 to end of week 20 (in centimeters)
end of week 20

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pharis Self-Confidence
Time Frame: end of week 4
The Pharis Self-Confidence Scale, which is a 13-item five-point measurement tool, measures a parent's feelings of self-confidence about daily baby care. Each infant care item is rated from 1 to 5 (not at all, very little, moderately, very much, completely). The increase in the total score obtained from the scale indicates that the self-confidence levels of the mothers increase in baby care. The lowest score on the "Pharis Self-Confidence" scale is 13, the highest score is 65.The mean score of pharis self-confidence (pre-intervention assessment)
end of week 4
Pharis Self-Confidence
Time Frame: end of week 20
The Pharis Self-Confidence Scale, which is a 13-item five-point measurement tool, measures a parent's feelings of self-confidence about daily baby care. Each infant care item is rated from 1 to 5 (not at all, very little, moderately, very much, completely). The increase in the total score obtained from the scale indicates that the self-confidence levels of the mothers increase in baby care. The lowest score on the "Pharis Self-Confidence" scale is 13, the highest score is 65.The mean score of pharis self-confidence (pre-intervention assessment)
end of week 20

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Zübeyde Ezgi ERCELIK, MSc, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University
  • Principal Investigator: Hatice BAL YILMAZ, Proffessor, Ege University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 29, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

June 17, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 11, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 21, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

March 31, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 30, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 27, 2022

Last Verified

June 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 21-5.1t/53

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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