PREVALENCE OF PARENTAL STRESS AMONG NEONATES MOTHER ADMITTED IN NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU) OF TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: The hospitalization of a neonate in the NICU is usually stressful for the mother and all the other family members. The stressful nature of the NICU environment for parents, especially mothers of sick babies, The aim of the study was to identify the level of stress among mothers of neonates admitted to the neonate intensive care unit.

Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used, while the study was conducted from May to October 2023 in two tertiary care hospitals in Khyber Pukhtankhwa, where the sample size was 620 using convenient sampling techniques, with a targeted population of mothers of neonates that are admitted to the NICU. A valid and reliable parental stress checklist was used for data collection, and informed consent was obtained from the participants. An independent t-test, an ANNOVA, and a Pearson correlation test were applied as inferential statistics.

Results: In the current study, the number of mothers aged 31–35 years was higher among the total participants of 620, with a mean age score of 30.9 ± 5.0. The overall level of stress of mothers was moderate, while the majority of the participants level of stress in sight and sounds was moderate (62.1%), in look and behavior was also moderate (84.7%), and in parental role alteration was also moderate (77.9%). In the domains, the parental role alteration mean score was high (3.55 ± 0.95), followed by look and behavior mean score (3.44 ± 0.43), and sight and sound (3.35 ± 0.55).

Conclusion: The study concluded that parental stress among mothers was moderate, where parental role alteration contributed mostly because their role as women changed to that of parents, so there should be a social support program that may help parents prevent psychological trauma.