Abstract
Preterm birth is a stressful event for families. In particular, the unexpectedly early delivery may cause negative feelings in mothers and fathers. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between preterm birth, parental stress and negative feelings, and the environmental setting of NICU. 21 mothers (age = 36.00 ± 6.85) and 19 fathers (age = 34.92 ± 4.58) of preterm infants (GA = 30.96 ± 2.97) and 20 mothers (age = 40.08 ± 4.76) and 20 fathers (age = 40.32 ± 6.77) of full-term infants (GA = 39.19 ± 1.42) were involved. All parents filled out the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire. Our data showed differences in emotional reactions between preterm and full-term parents. Results also revealed significant differences between mothers and fathers’ responses to preterm birth in terms of stress, negative feelings, and perceptions of social support. A correlation between negative conditions at birth (e.g., birth weight and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay) and higher scores in some scales of Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States and Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire were found. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit may be a stressful place both for mothers and fathers. It might be useful to plan, as soon as possible, interventions to help parents through the experience of the premature birth of their child and to begin an immediately adaptive mode of care.
Highlights
Preterm birth is defined by the WHO as birth that occurs before 37 weeks of gestation
Until the Nineties, prematurity was defined on the basis of birth weight, in recent years gestational age has been considered as the main indicator of physical and neurological maturation of preterm babies (Sansavini & Faldella, 2013)
One of the aims of this study was to investigate maternal and paternal responses immediately after the premature birth of their child in terms of trauma-related symptoms, negative states of mind and feelings and stress related to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) perception, the baby conditions and the perception of an altered parental role by comparing a clinical sample of parents of preterm children and a control sample of parents of full-term children
Summary
Preterm birth is defined by the WHO as birth that occurs before 37 weeks of gestation. Until the Nineties, prematurity was defined on the basis of birth weight, in recent years gestational age has been considered as the main indicator of physical and neurological maturation of preterm babies (Sansavini & Faldella, 2013). Preterm birth is a multi-problematic event that presents two main consequences: first of all, the medical and neurophysiological conditions of the new born baby put him or her in danger ( for infants with a weight lower than 1.500 grams and with a gestational age less than 32 weeks), and secondly, it could have a negative impact both on the mother and father’s relationship and on parent–child interactions (Müller-Nix & Ansermet, 2009). Still few studies examined fathers’ experiences of preterm birth, these studies highlighted the importance of fathers’ experiences (Candelori, Trumello, Babore, Keren, & Romanelli, 2015; Lundqvist & Jakobsson, 2003; Pohlman, 2005)
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