Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 13, 2025
Assessment of the Efficacy of An Osteopathic Treatment in Infants with Biomechanical Impairments to Suckling
Published on: February 5, 2019
Exploring the Role of Occupational Therapy With Mothers Who Breastfeed
Lauren Sponseller1, Fern Silverman2, Pamela Roberts3
1Lauren Sponseller, PhD, OTD, MSOTR/L, MEd, is Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, Salus University, Elkins Park, PA; lsponseller@salus.edu.
Importance:
Occupational therapy practitioners can play a pivotal role in supporting breastfeeding mothers as they transition to and form new routines for this occupation.
Objective:
To explore whether occupational therapy programming can assist breastfeeding mothers in reaching their personal occupation-based wellness goals.
Design:
Mixed-methods design that involved development of an occupational profile and a goal attainment scale (GAS). After the intervention, participants rescored their GAS goals and completed a semistructured exit interview.
Setting:
Nonprofit lactation center located in the suburbs of a large mid-Atlantic U.S. city.
Participants:
Women recruited through convenience sampling who had been breastfeeding an infant for <6 mo, who were not currently weaning, and who had met with a lactation consultant at least once since giving birth were eligible (N = 17).
Intervention:
Group occupational therapy that consisted of 10 weekly 1-hr sessions. Topics were based on occupational profiles, GAS scores, and lactation consultant input. Outcomes and Measures: Each participant created and scored three goals using the GAS before and after the intervention.
Results:
Data from 14 of the 17 participants were analyzed. The average postintervention GAS score was 56.50 (M = 50), indicating that most personal wellness goals were reached. Thematic analysis revealed that occupational therapy programming helped mothers persevere with breastfeeding, feel more confident as new parents, and value both themselves and their baby.
Conclusions And Relevance:
There is an increasing role for occupational therapy practitioners in helping new mothers reach their personal wellness goals in ways that support their ability to continue breastfeeding. What This Article Adds: Maternal wellness and breastfeeding represent an emerging area of practice in which occupational therapy practitioners can provide new mothers with physical, social, and psychological supports that help them maintain self-efficacy related to breastfeeding and other meaningful occupations. This study provides foundational evidence in support of this collaboration.
More Related Videos
05:04A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
Published on: September 22, 2023
11:50Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Related Concept Videos
01:26Modeling in Therapy
Participant Modeling
Participant modeling involves therapists demonstrating calm and effective behaviors in...
01:24Operant Conditioning Intervention
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
01:19Autism Spectrum Disorder
These core symptoms manifest differently among individuals, ranging from mild to severe. The disorder's complexity extends beyond its clinical presentation, encompassing a diverse range of biological, cognitive, and sociocultural influences.
01:15Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
01:30Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-V: Nursing Management
Assessment
01:25Role of Communication in the Nursing Process II: Planning and Implementation