The effectiveness of first-time-mother parent education for infant interaction and sense of parenting competence during the first year in Taiwan

Background When new mothers do not understand how to interact with their newborn babies, they would increase anxiety, even decrease the quality of parent-infant interactions. Previous studies indicate that the postpartum parenting education for first-time-mothers can improve the quality of mother-infant interactions in first two months. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of parenting education for postpartum women during the first year. Methods The study recruited 81 healthy first-time-mother infant dyads from the medical center in Taipei city. The experimental and control groups received extra education by way of a 40-minute videotape and normal postpartum care, respectively. Data from around first week (T1), followed by the third (T2), sixth (T3), ninth (T4), and twelfth (T5) month postpartum are collected. Assessment scales such as the Edinburgh perinatal depression scale (EPDS), the Chinese version of the parenting sense of competence scale (C-PSOC), and the Nursing child assessment teaching scale (NCATS) used for videotaped mother-infant interactions measurement were used in the study. Results The analytical results show that the quality of mother-infant interaction increased at T2, T3, T4, and T5 in the experimental group ( Fig. 1 ). No different change in maternal sense of competency was found in the experimental and control groups from T1 to T4. However, a positive change in sense of parenting competency at T5 was found in the experimental group ( Fig. 2 ). No difference in postpartum depression was found between the two groups ( Fig. 3 ). Conclusions The first-time-mothers parent education has long-term effectiveness in the mother-infant dyad interaction quality.