The Effect of Family-Based Care on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression of Mothers With Premature Infants

Introduction: Giving birth to a premature neonate and its hospitalization are a stressful incident for parents and can lead to feelings of disability, stress, and subsequent anxiety and depression, especially in the mothers of infants. One way to reduce these symptoms is to provide family-based care to mothers. Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine the impact of family-based care on the amount of stress, anxiety, and depression of mothers with premature newborns that were hospitalized in neonatal care units. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 80 mothers of premature infants hospitalized in neonatal care units of Medical Educational health centers in Rasht City, Iran were selected based on consecutive sampling method and grouped in control and intervention, each with 40 subjects. The intervention group was provided with family-based care and the control group received routine maternity care. The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to measure and compare the effect of family-based care on the amount and severity of stress, anxiety, and depression in mothers of both groups at three time points of initial care of the neonate, 4 days later, and during neonate’s discharge. The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics (such as independent t-test, Wilcoxon test, and the generalized linear model as generalized estimating equation method). Results: Our findings revealed no statistical difference in stress, anxiety, and depression between the control and intervention groups before the intervention; while the effect of family-based intervention on the severity of anxiety was significant (P=0.0001) between control and intervention group in such a way that the control group subjects were more anxious compared with the intervention group (95% CI=2.4-4.5). There was a statistically significant relationship between the effect of the family-based intervention and the stress scores (P=0.0001) so that the control group subjects had a higher stress level compared with their counterparts in the intervention group (95% CI=1.1-3.5). The effect of family-based care on the severity of depression was significant (P=0.0001) too, and the severity of depression in the control group was more than the intervention group (95% CI=0.84-2.5). Conclusion: Family-based care program is effective in improving problems and emotional issues of mothers hospitalized with premature newborns; emotional problems such as anxiety, stress, and depression.