The Effectiveness of Neuro linguistic Programming Intervention in Enhancing Breast Milk Production, Reducing Stress Levels, and Improving Emotional Wellbeing among Breastfeeding Mothers: Quasi experimental Study

Riska Herliana, Alva Cherry Mustamu, Nur Khasanah, Nur Hafni Hasim

Abstract


Background: Breastfeeding is essential for infant health, yet many mothers face difficulties in milk production, often linked to psychological stress. Neuro‑Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a psychological method that may improve emotional wellbeing and lactation outcomes.

Materials and Methods: A quasi‑experimental study was conducted in Sorong, Southwest Papua (March–April 2024), involving 70 breastfeeding mothers with infants aged 0–6 months. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 35), which received a 4‑week NLP program, or a control group (n = 35), which received standard breastfeeding education. Each NLP session lasted 60 minutes weekly. Outcomes included daily breast milk volume (measured with calibrated cups), stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS), and emotional wellbeing (maternal self‑confidence, emotion regulation, and marital satisfaction). Assessments were conducted at baseline, immediately post intervention, and 1 month later.

Results: The intervention group showed a significant increase in milk production (from 450 ml to 600 ml/day; p < 0.05), while the control group remained stable. Stress scores declined in the intervention group (PSS: 22.4 to 14.5), with minimal change in the control group. Emotional wellbeing improved significantly across all domains in the intervention group compared to controls (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: NLP significantly enhances emotional wellbeing and milk production among breastfeeding mothers. These findings support incorporating NLP‑based psychological strategies into maternal health programs, particularly in high‑stress or low‑resource settings. Further research with larger and more diverse populations is recommended.

 


Keywords


Breast milk production, breastfeeding mothers, emotional wellbeing, neuro‑linguistic programming, perceived stress scale

Full Text:

PDF

References


Amzat J, Aminu K, Matankari B, Ismail A, Almu B, Kanmodi KK. Sociocultural context of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa: A narrative review. Health Sci Rep 2024;7:e2115.

Gebretsadik GG, Tadesse Z, Mamo L, Adhanu AK, Mulugeta A. Knowledge, attitude, and determinants of exclusive breastfeeding during COVID-19 pandemic among lactating mothers in Mekelle, Tigrai: A cross sectional study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2022;22:850.

Mosquera PS, Lourenço BH, Matijasevich A, Castro MC, Cardoso MA. Prevalence and predictors of breastfeeding in the MINA-Brazil cohort. Rev Saude Publica 2024;57(Suppl 2):2s.

Modak A, Ronghe V, Gomase KP. The psychological benefits of breastfeeding: Fostering maternal well-being and child development. Cureus 2023;15:e46730.

Yeo S, Yang L, Ong K, Yong TT. Breastfeeding with infectious diseases. Proc Singap Healthc 2022;31:20101058221123395.

Tomaszewska A, Jeleniewska A, Porębska K, Królikowska K, Rustecka A, Lipińska-Opałka A, et al. Immunomodulatory effect of infectious disease of a breastfed child on the cellular composition of breast milk. Nutrients 2023;15:3844.

Szyller H, Antosz K, Batko J, Mytych A, Dziedziak M, Wrześniewska M, et al. Bioactive components of human milk and their impact on child’s health and development, literature review. Nutrients 2024;16:1487.

Kim JH, Bode L, Ogra PL. 5-Human milk. In: Maldonado YA, Nizet V, Barnett ED, Edwards KM, Malley R, Remington JS, et al., editors. Remington and Klein’s Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant (Ninth Edition). Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2025. p. 160-82.e8.

Zheng Y, Correa-Silva S, Palmeira P, Carneiro-Sampaio M. Maternal vaccination as an additional approach to improve the protection of the nursling: Anti-infective properties of breast milk. Clinics (Sao Paulo) 2022;77:100093.

Wu Y, Chen B, Wu H, Gao J, Meng X, Chen H. How maternal factors shape the immune system of breastfed infants to alleviate food allergy: A systematic and updated review. Immunology 2025;174:1-16.

Verger J. Nutrition in the Pediatric population in the intensive care unit. Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am 2014;26:199–215.

Lugonja N, Marinković V, Pucarević M, Miletić S, Stojić N, Crnković D, et al. Human Milk—The biofluid that nourishes infants from the first day of life. Foods 2024;13:1298.

Mposhi A, Turner JD. How can early life adversity still exert an effect decades later? A question of timing, tissues and mechanisms. Front Immunol 2023;14:1215544.

Zhang W, Xiao D, Mao Q, Xia H. Role of neuroinflammation in neurodegeneration development. Sig Transduct Target Ther 2023;8:1–32.

Likhar A, Patil MS. Importance of Maternal nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life and its effects on child development: A narrative review. Cureus 2022;14:e30083.

Lv H, Zhang L, Han Y, Wu L, Wang B. The Development of Early Life Microbiota in Human Health and Disease. Engineering 2022;12:101–14.

BKPK. Main Findings of the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey. Agency for Health Policy Development, Ministry of Health of Indonesia (BKPK Kemenkes). 2023.

Dhaurali S, Dugat V, Whittler T, Shrestha S, Kiani M, Ruiz MG, et al. Investigating maternal stress, depression, and breastfeeding: A pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system (2016–2019) analysis. Healthcare 2023;11:1691.

Hookway L, Brown A. Barriers to optimal breastfeeding of medically complex children in the UK paediatric setting: A mixed methods survey of healthcare professionals. J Hum Nutr Diet 2023;36:1857–73.

Billings H, Horsman J, Soltani H, Spencer RL. Breastfeeding experiences of women with perinatal mental health problems: A systematic review and thematic synthesis. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2024;24:582.

Krawczyk A, Czerwińska-Osipiak A, Szablewska AW, Rozmarynowska W. Psychosocial factors influencing breastmilk production in mothers after preterm birth: The role of social support in early lactation success—A cross-sectional study. Nutrients 2024;16:3883.

Rahayu AS, Mendrofa HK, Elieser E, Sidabutar ARI, Andoy MG, Merrandan N, et al. Nutritional Status Analysis of Children Under Five in Jayapura City. Papua J Biol. 2024;16:34-41.

Pugu MR. Free from Stunting as an Indicator of Human Security for Communities in Southwest Papua Province from an International Relations Perspective. Syntax Literate Indones Sci J. 2023;8:6236-51.

Bhatt P, Sethi A, Tasgaonkar V, Shroff J, Pendharkar I, Desai A, et al. Machine learning for cognitive behavioral analysis: Datasets, methods, paradigms, and research directions. Brain Inform 2023;10:18.

Cosic K, Kopilas V, Jovanovic T. War, emotions, mental health, and artificial intelligence. Front Psychol 2024;15:1394045.

Plank L, Zlomuzica A. Natural language processing reveals differences in mental time travel at higher levels of self-efficacy. Sci Rep 2024;14:25342.

Ahmed N, Saha AK, Al Noman MdA, Jim JR, Mridha MF, Kabir MM. Deep learning-based natural language processing in human–agent interaction: Applications, advancements and challenges. Nat Lang Proc J 2024;9:100112.

Kattimani S, Abhijita B. Neurolinguistic programming: Old wine in new glass. Indian J Psychiatry 2024;66:304–6.

Drigas A, Mitsea E, Skianis C. Neuro-linguistic programming, positive psychology & VR in special education. Sci Electron Arch 2022;15:30-9.

Tosey P, Mathison J. Neuro‐linguistic programming as an innovation in education and teaching. ResearchGate. 2024 Oct 22. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/233353470_Neuro-linguistic_programming_as_ an_innovation_in_education_and_teaching. [Last accessed on 2024 Nov 28].

Jim JR, Talukder MAR, Malakar P, Kabir MM, Nur K, Mridha MF. Recent advancements and challenges of NLP-based sentiment analysis: A state-of-the-art review. Nat Lang Proc J 2024;6:100059.

Schäfer SK, von Boros L, Göritz AS, Baumann S, Wessa M, Tüscher O, et al. The perceived stress scale 2&2: A two-factorial German short version of the perceived stress scale. Front Psychiatry 2023;14:1195986.

Amna Z, Khairani M. Risk Factors for Postpartum Depression. J Family and Consumer Sciences. 2024;17:28-40.

Kilicli A. The effect of neuro linguistic program and progressive muscle relaxation exercises on breastfeeding success and breastfeeding self-efficacy after caesarean section. clinicaltrials. gov; 2024 Sep. Report No.: NCT06070792. Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06070792. [Last accessed on 2024 Nov 28].

Gómez L, Verd S, de-la-Banda G, Cardo E, Servera M, Filgueira A, et al. Perinatal psychological interventions to promote breastfeeding: A narrative review. Int Breastfeed J 2021;16:8.

Matyas M, Apanasewicz A, Krzystek-Korpacka M, Jamrozik N, Cierniak A, Babiszewska-Aksamit M, et al. The association between maternal stress and human milk concentrations of cortisol and prolactin. Sci Rep 2024;14:28115.

Nagel EM, Howland MA, Pando C, Stang J, Mason SM, Fields DA, et al. Maternal psychological distress and lactation and breastfeeding outcomes: A narrative review. Clin Ther 2022;44:215–27.

Malgaroli M, Hull TD, Zech JM, Althoff T. Natural language processing for mental health interventions: A systematic review and research framework. Transl Psychiatry 2023;13:1–17.

İşcanoğlu Z, Çakmak Z, Çiçek NM, Steele M. The role of children’s emotion regulation and maternal emotion socialization in preschoolers’ behavioral difficulties during the COVID-19 lockdown. Curr Psychol 2024;43:19356–69.

Gavine A, Shinwell SC, Buchanan P, Farre A, Wade A, Lynn F, et al. Support for healthy breastfeeding mothers with healthy term babies. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2022;2022:CD001141.

Durmazoğlu G, Çiçek Ö, Okumuş H. The effect of spousal support perceived by mothers on breastfeeding in the postpartum period. Turk Arch Pediatr 2021;56:57–61.

Buhler-Wassmann AC, Hibel LC. Studying caregiver-infant co-regulation in dynamic, diverse cultural contexts: A call to action. Infant Behav Dev 2021;64:101586.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.