Predictors of Maternal Trust in Doctors About Advice on Infant Care Practices: The SAFE Study

Objective: To determine predictors of maternal trust in doctors about advice on infant care practices.

Methods: Using probability sampling methods, we recruited mothers from 32 US maternity hospitals. Mothers completed a survey 2 to 6 months postpartum that included questions about maternal trust in doctors regarding 6 infant care practices and physician characteristics (doctor asked mother's opinion, doctor is qualified, infant sees 1 main doctor who is/is not of the same ethnicity/race). Prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for maternal trust in physician advice for each infant care practice. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the independent association of maternal and physician characteristics and trust for each infant care practice, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: Of the 3983 mothers enrolled from January 2011 to March 2014, 3297 (83%) completed the follow-up survey. Maternal trust in the doctor varied according to infant care practice with highest trust for vaccination (89%) and lowest trust for pacifier use (56%). In the adjusted analyses, for all infant care practices, mothers were more likely to trust their doctors if they reported that the doctors were qualified (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], >3.0 for all practices) or if the doctor had asked their opinion (AOR, 1.76-2.43). For mothers who reported seeing 1 main doctor, white mothers were more likely to trust physicians for almost all infant care practices if they reported the doctor was the same race (AOR, 1.54-2.19).

Conclusions: Physician characteristics and ways of communication were significantly associated with maternal trust in doctors about advice on infant care practices.