Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Apr 8, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 17, 2025 - Jun 12, 2025
Date Accepted: Oct 14, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
The Maternal Support Framework: A Qualitative Study on Mothers' Perceived Understanding and Support During Excessive Infant Crying
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background/Objectives: Excessive infant crying affects approximately 20% of families, often resulting in parental distress, anxiety, and strained relationships. Despite its prevalence, many parents, particularly mothers, report feeling misunderstood and unsupported.
Objective:
This study aimed to examine mothers’ perceptions of understanding and support from partners, their social environment, and healthcare professionals.
Methods:
Methods:
A mixed-methods design was employed, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 432 mothers participated in the study. Quantitative assessments compared perceived levels of understanding and support from three groups: partners, the social environment, and healthcare professionals. Qualitative data explored specific forms of support mothers found meaningful.
Results:
Results:
Quantitative findings indicated that healthcare professionals were rated lowest in both understanding and support, with 50.6% of mothers reporting little or no understanding, and 47.1% reporting little or no support. In contrast, partners were perceived as the most supportive and understanding group. Qualitative analysis highlighted essential support forms, including emotional reassurance, avoiding maternal blame, practical assistance, and open communication.
Conclusions:
Conclusions:
The study reveals a gap in perceived support from healthcare professionals and emphasizes the vital role of partners and the social environment. Based on qualitative insights, a Maternal Support Framework is proposed to guide holistic, family-centered interventions, with the goal of enhancing parental and infant well-being.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.