Skip to main content

Table 1 Correct responses to Newborn Feeding Ability items and evidence source

From: Assessing midwives' breastfeeding knowledge: Properties of the Newborn Feeding Ability questionnaire and Breastfeeding Initiation Practices scale

Correct responses to items

Evidence

1. A normal full term infant is born with instinctive reflex ability to breastfeed effectively

[40]

2. Newborns will develop predictable, coordinated feeding behaviors within minutes of birth

[38, 39]

3. Newborns can instinctively find the nipple without help and attach correctly to the breast

[35]

4. Newborns will be guided to the nipple by their sense of smell

[37]

5. Skin-to-skin contact is important to help stabilize newborn breathing

[58, 59]

6. A newborn's heart rate is stabilized by skin-to-skin contact

[60]

7. Skin-to-skin contact is important to prevent heat loss in newborn babies

[61, 62]

8. A newborn's blood sugar levels are stabilized by skin-to-skin contact

[62, 63]

9. Skin-to-skin contact helps the flow of colostrum after birth

[64]

10. Uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth is important for newborn breastfeeding performance

[35, 41]

11. A mother is more likely to accept and feel warm toward her baby if skin-to-skin contact happens immediately after birth

[64]

12. Hours of continuous skin-to-skin contact can help a newborn baby learn to feed

[34]

13. Midwives and mothers know the baby is getting colostrum at the first breastfeed when they hear the baby swallow

[65]

14 Midwives and mothers know the baby is getting colostrum at the first breastfeed when they see the baby swallow

[65]

15. Separation of a newborn from the mother at birth can cause harmful stress to the baby

[40, 66]

16. Birth trauma may interfere with the proper coordination of an infant's natural suckling reflexes

[67]

17. Interrupting skin-to-skin contact within 15–20 minutes of birth seriously disturbs the suckling reflexes for correct attachment

[35, 68]

18*. Immediately after birth, uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact should be facilitated until after the first breastfeed

[42, 43]

19*. Skin-to-skin contact to initiate feeding is of higher priority than wrapping the baby

[62]

20*. Skin-to-skin contact to breastfeed should take precedence over completion of required documentation

[44]

21*. Most mothers prefer to hold their baby immediately after birth rather than be cleaned

[44]

  1. * reversed scored items