Influence of NICU co-care facilities and skin-to-skin contact on maternal stress in mothers of preterm infants

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of co-care facilities and amount of skin-to-skin contact during Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay on maternal stress in mothers of preterm infants at two months corrected age.MethodsA prospective cohort study that involved 300 mothers of pre-term infants was conducted in four NICUs (two with co-care facilities and two with non co-care) in Sweden. Data on duration of skin-to-skin contact per day for all days admitted to the NICU were collected using self-reports. Maternal stress was measured by the Swedish Parental Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ) at two months of infant’s corrected age.ResultsMothers whose infants were cared for in a NICU with co-care facilities reported significantly lower levels of stress in the dimension of ‘incompetence’ compared to mothers whose infants had been cared for in non co-care NICUs. The amount of skin-to-skin experienced during the neonatal stay was not significantly associated with levels of maternal stress at two months corrected age.ConclusionThe finding that mothers who do not experience co-care facilities experience greater levels of stress in relation to feelings of incompetence is of concern. Improvements to NICU environments are needed to ensure that mother-infant dyads are not separated.