Self-efficacy in Breastfeeding Predicts How Mothers Perceive Their Preterm Infant’s State-Regulation

Background: Mothers of preterm infants often perceive the infant as having problems with crying, sleeping and feeding, sometimes summarised as ‘state-regulation’. Breastfeeding rates are lower among preterm infants, and the mother’s self-efficacy in breastfeeding is central to understanding which mothers are going to breastfeed their infants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the late preterm infant’s mother’s self-efficacy in breastfeeding was associated with how the mother experienced her infant’s state-regulation at three months of corrected age. Methods: : The study had a prospective and longitudinal design with a consecutive data collection through questionnaires. Results: : The analyses showed that being an older mother, perceiving breastfeeding support, and having a higher breastfeeding self-efficacy were all significantly associated with identifying the infant as having better state-regulation. Conclusion: There was an association between mothers’ self-efficacy in breastfeeding and her perceptions of how good state-regulation the infant had. This is an important finding, as self-efficacy is a manageable factor that could positively affect how the mother perceives taking care of her infant. Clinical implication: Health care professionals should target mother’s self-efficacy in breastfeeding to improve mother-infant relationship.