Hypnotherapy influence on maternal psychological, breastfeeding, mRNA-OXTR expression, and OXTR protein

ABSTRACT

Hypnotherapy has emerged as a potential alternative to improve exclusive breastfeeding rates, particularly in countries like Indonesia where they are below optimal levels. This study aims to evaluate the impact of audio hypnotherapy on the psychological, exclusive breastfeeding behavior, the OXTR protein and mRNA expression gene OXTR in mothers of infants aged 0–6 months. This study employed a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial design, conducted from November 2022 to May 2023 in 11 primary health centers. The study population included breastfeeding mothers with infants aged 0–6 months, with a total sample size of 70 respondents who were randomly divided into intervention (received audio hypnotherapy) and control groups (received standard care). The psychological condition was measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Exclusive breastfeeding behavior was assessed based on both quality and quantity. Genetic factors were evaluated through mRNA OXTR expression using real-time PCR and protein OXTR levels using ELISA. Analyzing data using linear and logistic regression models. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in psychological condition (p < .0001). There were big differences in the exclusive breastfeeding behavior (p < .0001), as well as in the amounts of protein OXTR and mRNA expression of the OXTR gene (p < .0001). We recommend the implementation of audio hypnotherapy as an effective complementary therapeutic approach to manage the psychological well-being, exclusive breastfeeding behavior, the mRNA expression of the OXTR gene and levels of OXTR protein in mothers of infants aged 0–6 months.

KEYWORDS:

• Audio hypnotherapy
• exclusive breastfeeding behavior
• hypnobreastfeeding
• mRNA OXTR expression
• protein OXTR

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the mothers and infants who participated in this study for their invaluable contributions. We also extend our appreciation to the healthcare professionals who supported and assisted in the successful implementation of this research. We acknowledge the dedicated efforts of our research team members who worked tirelessly to ensure the study’s success.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors' contributions

AA, AAZ, and IH carried out the research and collected the data. LHF, SA, and MH designed and supervised the study, visualized and validated the data, acquired funding, and reviewed draft material. The data were organized, analyzed, and interpreted by and SS, HP, and MM, reviewed the article. All authors have critically reviewed and approved the final draft and are responsible for the content and similarity index of the manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This research received approval from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia under the reference number 593/UN4.6.4.5.31/PP36/2022 in October 22, 2022.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.