Stress and Coping Mechanisms of Mothers Separated from Their Sick Babies During Postpartum Period in Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital

Abstract

Background: When sick newborn babies are separated after birth from their mothers, these new mothers endure stress during the post-partum period.

Objective : To study the stress levels and coping mechanisms of new mothers who’ve been separated from sick babies, analyzing how different coping mechanisms affect the level of stress experienced by mothers in this context and comparing coping mechanisms and stress levels

Materials and methods: The sample in this study is purposive sampling. During hospitalization in the Chalermprabarame special ward at Maharaj  Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, 50 mothers who had given birth to a sick baby were separated from their babies during the postpartum period. While these children remained in the hospital’s neonatal patient ward, each mother visited her child at least once. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistic, and a T-Test was employed to measure statistical significance ( P<0.05)

Results: The stress of new mothers separated from sick babies during post-partum period is, averagely, high. The result shows that mother’s career is the strong factor related to the level of stress. The majority of study group managed their stress with rationality more than emotion. Marital status was found to be a factor associated with lever of stress. Moreover, the severity of sick babies led mother to solve the stress with different coping mechanisms.

Conclusion: The stress on new mothers separated from sick babies during post-partum period high. The issue here is the extent to which the mother uses reason, versus emotion, in order to cope with the stress from being separated from an ill newborn.  Nurses should encourage mothers and help them relief their stress while being separated from their ill newborns.