title: Quality of life of mothers at the sixth week and sixth month post partum and type of infant feeding.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  there is little scientific evidence on the relationship between maternal quality of life and type of infant feeding. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in mother's quality of life by type of infant feeding.
  
  
  METHODS
  longitudinal prospective study with 364 women who gave birth at a public hospital at Madrid, Spain, between February and October 2013. To be included, the participants had to be a healthy primigravida aged 18-45 years who gave birth to a healthy newborn with a gestational age between 36 and 42 completed weeks, regardless of birth type. The hospital interviews were performed between 36 and 48 hours post partum in women who had case of vaginal/instrumental births and 60-72 hours post partum for women who had a caesarean birth. Telephone interviews were conducted at the sixth week and sixth month post partum, and included the SF-36 to measure quality of life. SF-36 scores were compared between breast feeding and artificial milk feeding. We also analysed the longitudinal change in SF-36 scores in both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  at the sixth week post partum, regardless of the infant feeding modality, an increased mental health score was recorded for mothers who reported that their children ate and slept well and for those who did not go to the emergency hospital service because of concern over their baby's health. No significant differences in quality of life were found between the two groups at six months post partum. Between the sixth week and sixth month post partum, quality of life improved significantly in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  at the sixth week post partum, the proportion of children who ate and slept well and did not have to attend in an emergency hospital service was higher in the breast feeding group. This observation was associated with greater maternal quality of life. This positive indirect relationship between breast feeding and quality of life should be considered an additional maternal health benefit in the short term.
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Gregorio Marañon Health Research Institute (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: josematias.trivino@salud.madrid.org.
authors.forename: José Matías
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Triviño-Juárez
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Gregorio Marañon Health Research Institute (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nieto-Pereda
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Castilla-La Mancha University, Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Dulce
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Romero-Ayuso
authors.affiliation: Southeast Health District, Madrid Health Service, Spain.
authors.forename: Begoña
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arruti-Sevilla
authors.affiliation: Southeast Health District, Madrid Health Service, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Avilés-Gámez
authors.affiliation: National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health and REDISSEC, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria João
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Forjaz
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Gregorio Marañon Health Research Institute (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oliver-Barrecheguren
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Gregorio Marañon Health Research Institute (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mellizo-Díaz
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Gregorio Marañon Health Research Institute (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Consuelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soto-Lucía
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Gregorio Marañon Health Research Institute (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plá-Mestre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011788:Quality of Life; D013030:Spain; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Breast feeding; Longitudinal study; Quality of life; SF-36