Coping in Mothers of Premature Newborns After Hospital Discharge

The objective of the study is to determine the modulatory effect of interventions, specifically regarding the effect on the coping ability of mothers of preterm infants at the time of the infant's discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The design was a prospective, descriptive, correlational study. It was conducted with a sample of 144 mothers in two NICUs in Colombia. The study used the Coping and Adaptation Processing Scale Spanish modified version (CAPS). The data were collected from August 2014 to February 2015. The Coping and Adaptation Processing Scale (CAPS) was administered to the mothers at the time of the infants' discharges to home. Spearman rho correlation coefficient was calculated to assess a relationship between the levels of coping and transition conditions – personal, community. A multiple linear regression was used to determine if there was an association among personal, community, and societal conditions and levels of coping and the intervention effect. The results of the multiple regression analysis found that variables (such as income, information given at admission, and preparation for parenthood) influenced coping in mothers and showed statistical significance with p values of 0.032, 0.020 and 0.015 respectively. The interventions designed for each of the units of the individual institutions did not modulate the process of coping of mothers of preterm infants at discharge, even when interventions in each of the institutions have a different practice. It is important to start information about the care of children at home on admission and reinforce this information during the hospital stay in order to strengthen maternal coping at discharge. This information should be reviewed and consideration should be given as to the type of information and manner in which it is given to mothers. These actions would potentially improve the education and support program given in the units prior to the infant's discharge.