Infant Massage and Infant Growth, Mother-Infant Attachment, and Maternal Self-Confidence
Condition: Growth; Attachment; Self-Confidence
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      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).
    

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.
    

Intervention name(s): Infant Massage
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): 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.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Screening