Literature on mothers' acceptance of their children's tube feeding is heterogeneous.
When a child is fed via gastrostomy, parents may report higher quality of life and
higher stress levels. Qualitative research suggests that tube feeding can conflict
with fundamental expectations about the mothering role. In this qualitative meta-analysis,
parental statements from various studies have been excerpted and theory-based analyzed.
Data suggest that feeding a child orally is not only an important aspect of mothering
but also a key element for the development of a motherhood identity. Nonoral feeding
often results in psychological stress and a struggle to negotiate the motherhood identity
successfully and may result in traumatization of the mother. Preventive psychological
guidance is recommended to decrease the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder in mothers
and disturbances in the mother–child relationship and to assist in maternal coping
with a child's feeding disorder.
Key words
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Article info
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Published online: March 16, 2011
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© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
