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Castro Babbini, Maria José

University of British Columbia

Background: Mothers of infants born prematurely (<37 weeks gestational age [GA]) hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are at increased risk of suffering from anxiety, which can adversely affect their infant’s development. Kangaroo care (KC), involving direct skin-to-skin contact of an infant on a caregiver’s chest, fosters attachment, can regulate maternal anxiety, and increases oxytocin (OT) levels. There is strong evidence of the benefits of KC on the mother-infant dyad in the preterm population. However, little is known about the interactive effects between KC, OT levels and anxiety of mothers of preterm infants in the NICU. Methodology: This pilot study recruited participants within the first week of their preterm infants' birth. Maternal KC time was self-recorded daily for 14 days. Self-reported anxiety levels on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire- short version (STAI-5) and saliva samples for OT measurement were collected at baseline, days 7 and 14. Demographic, clinical and contextual data were also gathered. Descriptive data for KC time, STAI-5 scores, and oxytocin levels were examined at group and individual levels. Results: A total of 7 participants were included in the study, with 4 mothers having complete data. A clear pattern of change in STAI-5 scores and OT in mothers over the two weeks of practicing KC was not observed. Participant inter and intra variability was found. The average minutes spent doing KC decreased between day 7 (average KC: 156) and day 14 (average KC: 112.5). STAI-5 scores decreased from the baseline (STAIS-5 average score: 7.9) until TP2 (STAIS-5 average score: 6.8); OT levels increased from baseline to day 7 (OT levels: 13.8) and decreased at day 14 (OT levels: 9.7). Conclusions: This pilot study provided notable insights, such as the willingness of this population to participate in studies, showing feasibility for future research, and the importance of including this population’s contextual factors. Participant inter and intra variability in time spent doing KC and oxytocin levels was also observed, must be accounted for in a larger study. Additional research is needed to investigate the impact of simple human-based interventions on outcomes in preterm infants and, importantly, on their mothers.

Text

2024-03-28

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87655

Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/