Smartphone use during breastfeeding and its impact on mother-infant interaction and maternal responsiveness: Within-subject design.

Abstract

This study investigated the association between maternal smartphone use during breastfeeding and the quality of mother-infant interactions and maternal visual responsiveness to the infant's bids for attention. We observed 13 mother-infant dyads and video-recorded breastfeeding under the experimental (smartphone use) and control (no smartphone use) conditions on separate days. To evaluate the quality of mother-infant interactions between the two conditions, we used the Japanese revised version of the Assessment of Mother-Infant Sensitivity (AMIS) scale. The mothers' visual responses to their infants' bids for attention were categorized into two groups. In this study, although smartphone use clearly increased distracted feeding times, we found no significant associations between maternal smartphone use and the quality of mother-infant interactions or bonding during breastfeeding. However, smartphone use during breastfeeding was found to interfere with the mother's ability to respond visually to the infant's bid for her attention. The results of this study can be applied while developing resources regarding smartphone use for nursing mothers.