Mother-infant breastfeeding progress tool: A guide for education and support of the breastfeeding dyad

Abstract

Objective: To describe the development of the Mother-Infant Breastfeeding Progress Tool to be used at the bedside by nurses to guide ongoing support and education for the mother-baby dyad. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Community hospital in a Midwestern city. Participants: Sixty-two English-speaking motherinfant dyads. Methods: Three nurse raters (two per session) independently scored the eight characteristics on the Mother-Infant Breastfeeding Progress Tool during 81 breastfeeding sessions. Main Outcome Measure: Percent agreement between raters and suggested modifications for the Mother-Infant Breastfeeding Progress Tool. Results: The results support the use of the tool as a checklist for assessment of the breastfeeding mother-infant dyad to guide education and support. Conclusions: The interrater agreement was high for individual items of the Mother-Infant Breastfeeding Progress Tool. The Mother-Infant Breastfeeding Progress Tool is useful as a checklist for assessing maternal and infant breastfeeding progress, though additional research is needed to support the validity of the tool. © 2007, AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.