Perceived Social Support and Adaptation to the Maternal Role in First-time Mothers during the Postpartum Period

Abstract

The relationship between perceived social support and adaptation to maternal role for first-time mothers was investigated in this descriptive correlational study. A nonprobable sample of 90 first-time mothers were selected, who had uncomplicated perinatal experiences and delivered healthy and term newborns as well. The data was collected during a home interview at 4-6weeks postpartum. The outcome of adaptations was defined as the level of sensitivity in parent-infant interactions and of the self confidence in infant care. The perception of social support in the primiparous was assessed by the NSSQ during the postpartum. The results obtained from this study are summarized as follows : 1. The mean score of the perceived total functional support was 116.6+/-37.5 points(affective : 38.1 affirmative : 39.3, aid : 39.3), and the score of the total network support was 45.2+/-13.9 points (size : 4.9, duration :19.8 frequency : 20.4). These scores tended to be slightly low.2. The mean score of the self confidence on the infant care activity as the subjective aspect of the maternal role adaptation(MRA) was 56.5 points(86.9%), whereas that of the sensitivity of the mother-infant interaction of the MRA was 78.9 points(63.2%).3. The subjective aspect of the MRA has showed a positive relationship with the aid dimension of the functional support. And the objective aspect of the MRA also showed a positive relationship with the total functional support and the total network support. However the correlating degrees were slightly low.In conclusion, the primiparous mothers perceived that they had received a small amount of social support during the postpartum period, suggesting the need of various kinds of social support to promote the MRA for the primiparous.