Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
J Affect Disord. 2019 Oct 1;257:470-476. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.039. Epub 2019 Jul 5.
Preterm birth does not only affect infants but also represents an unexpected and traumatic event for parents. There are few reports on parenting stress during early infancy comparing preterm and term mothers, with the results being somewhat inconsistent.
As part of a longitudinal study, preterm mother-infant and term mother-infant dyads were enrolled. Dyads were assessed twice: during hospitalisation in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and at 3 months of infant age (corrected age for preterm). Each mother completed a self-report set of psychological questionnaire in both time points. All the children underwent a neurological examination at 40 weeks post conceptional age and at 3 months (corrected age for preterm).
20 preterm and 20 term dyads were included. NICU mothers reported elevated postnatal depressive symptoms and high stress level, even if the preterm infants were with low perinatal risk and normal neurological examination. Comparing preterm infant with low perinatal risk and normal neurological examination with term-born children at 3 months, we found higher parental stress in term mothers than in preterm mothers.
This study was limited by a relatively small sample size; findings are preliminary and warrant further investigation in larger-scale study.
Findings confirm that becoming a mother of a preterm infant is an event associated with emotional distress. These symptoms may resolve with time, and sometimes are independent of the infant's clinical severity. Assessing parental sources of stress and subsequent follow-up is essential to promote parental support, both for preterm and term mothers.
早产儿不仅会影响婴儿，对父母来说也是一个意外且痛苦的事件。很少有研究比较早产儿和足月儿母亲在婴儿早期的育儿压力，且结果有些不一致。
作为一项纵向研究的一部分，招募了早产儿母婴和足月儿母婴对。在两个时间点对母婴对进行了两次评估：新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）住院期间和婴儿 3 个月（早产儿校正年龄）。每位母亲在两个时间点都完成了一套自我报告的心理问卷。所有儿童在受孕后 40 周和 3 个月（早产儿校正年龄）时接受神经学检查。
共纳入 20 对早产儿和 20 对足月儿母婴对。NICU 中的母亲报告产后抑郁症状和高压力水平升高，即使早产儿围产期风险低且神经学检查正常。将围产期风险低且神经学检查正常的早产儿与足月儿在 3 个月时进行比较，我们发现足月儿母亲的父母压力高于早产儿母亲。
本研究受到样本量相对较小的限制；研究结果初步表明，需要在更大规模的研究中进一步调查。
研究结果证实，成为早产儿的母亲是一个与情绪困扰相关的事件。这些症状可能会随着时间的推移而缓解，而且有时与婴儿的临床严重程度无关。评估父母的压力来源并进行后续随访对于促进早产儿和足月儿母亲的父母支持至关重要。
