Natsuko Wood

Biography

Dr. Wood developed skills in breastfeeding support while working as a registered midwife in Japan.

Her research focuses on building breastfeeding relationships between mother and infant through unrestricted direct breastfeeding to promote exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding. This includes both term and premature infants regardless of geographic location or race/ethnicity.

She designed and evaluated the home-based breastfeeding program, Protecting Your Ability to Breastfeed Your Baby, specifically targeted at perceived insufficient milk.  She developed the Breastfeeding Relationship Scale, a validated instrument to measure mutual responsiveness during breastfeeding and perceived insufficient milk.

She was trained in translational research as a pre-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington and graduated with her Ph.D. in Nursing Science. She has a master’s degree in Nursing Education and has taught maternal child nursing, midwifery, and med-surg nursing at a university in Japan as well as Skagit Valley College in Washington state.

Education

• Ph.D. University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• MSN Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
• BSN Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA

Research Interests
Breastfeeding Relationships
Direct Breastfeeding
Perceived Insufficient Milk

Methodological Strengths
Mixed Methods
Translational Research

Areas of Expertise
Maternal Child Health Nursing
Breastfeeding

Research & Scholarship

• The breastfeeding relationship between employed mother and infant dyads: A mixed-methods prospective study (Completed; manuscripts in revision; Sigma Theta Tau International Small Grant)
• Translation and psychometric analysis of the Japanese version of the Breastfeeding Relationship Scale (BRS-J) (Data collection phase; collaborating with Iwate Prefectural University)
  

Memberships

• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Delta Chi-at-Large Chapter
• Western Institute of Nursing (WIN)

Selected Publications

• Wood, N. K. & Helfrich-Miller, K. R. (2025). Changes in Breastfeeding Relationships When Frontline Essential Working Mothers Return to Work during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Longitudinal Qualitative Online Study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 0, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16793
• Wood, N. K., Helfrich-Miller, K. R., & Dyer, A. M. (2024). A longitudinal study of
  Breastfeeding Relationships at home during the COVID-19 pandemic: A grounded theory method. Journal of Advanced Nursing, http://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16219
• Wood, N. K. & Bindler, R. J. (2023). A Videoconferencing Verification Method for Enrollment of Breastfeeding Dyads to an Online Prospective Mixed Methods Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 00, 1-7. http://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15981 Open access.
• Wood, N. K., Penders, R. A., Dryer, A. M. (2023). Breastfeeding Disparities among Rural Breastfeeding Dyads in High Income Countries: A Scoping Study. Breastfeeding Medicine, 18(11), 805-821. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2023.0111
• Wood, N. K., Barbosa-Leiker, C., Odom-Maryon, T. (2023). Determinants of Exclusive Direct Breastfeeding Using Constructs from the Breastfeeding Relationship Scale. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. doi: 10.1080/02646838.2023.2191113
• Wood, N. K., Odom-Maryon, T. & Smart, D.A. (2022). Factors associated with exclusive direct breastfeeding in the first three months. Nursing for Women’s Health, 26(4), 299-307. doi: 10.1016/j.nwh.2022.05.006
• Wood, N. K., Barbosa-Leiker, C., Odom-Marion, T., Kantrowitz-Gordon, I., Reifsnider, E., & Helfrich-Miller, K, R. (2021). Instrument development and psychometric validation using confirmatory factor analysis of the Breastfeeding Relationship Scale, Journal of Nursing Measurement, JNM-D-20-00139. doi: 10.1891/JNM-D-20-00139.
• Wood, N. K., Odom-Maryon, T., & Denise, A. S. (2021). Factors Associated with Perceived Insufficient Milk in the First Three Months. MCN, American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 46(4), 223-229. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000723
• Wood, N. K., & Lewis, F. M. (2019) A feasibility study of a home-based program to promote perceived adequate milk. Journal of Woman’s Reproductive Health, 2, 20-34. doi: 10.14302/issn.2381-862X.jwrh-19-2617.
• Wood, N. K. (2019). Home-Based interventions in a case of first latch at 27 days. Nursing for Women’s Health, 23,135-140. doi: 10.1016/j.nwh.2019.01.004.
• Wood, N. K., & Woods, N. F. (2018). Outcome measures in interventions that enhance breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity: A systematic review. MCN, American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 43, 341-347. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000472.
• Wood, N. K. & Sanders, E. A. (2018). Mothers with perceived insufficient milk: Preliminary evidence of home interventions to boost mother-infant interactions. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 40, 1184-1202. doi:10.1177/0193945916687552
• Wood, N. K., Sanders, E. A., Lewis, F. M., Woods, N. F., & Blackburn, S. T. (2017). Pilot test of a home-based program to prevent perceived insufficient milk. Women Birth, 30, 472-480. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2017.04.006
• Wood, N. K., Woods, N. F., Blackburn, S. T., & Sanders, E. A. (2016). Interventions that enhance breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity: A systematic review. MCN, American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 41, 299-307. doi: 10.1097/NMC.00000000000264

 

updated 03/27/26