Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 22:10:879956.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.879956. eCollection 2022.

Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care on the Psychological Stress Response and Sleep Quality of Mothers With Premature Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Wei-Yan Chen  1 , Ying-Ying Wu  2 , Meng-Yan Xu  2 , Tao-Hsin Tung  3
Affiliations

Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care on the Psychological Stress Response and Sleep Quality of Mothers With Premature Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Wei-Yan Chen et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of kangaroo mother care on the psychological stress response and sleep quality of mothers with premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods: A randomized controlled design was used to recruit participants. The study recruited 126 mothers of premature infants in the NICU from January 2019 to January 2020. The participants were divided into the experimental and control groups according to the random number table method (63 mothers per group). The control group was managed with conventional premature infant treatment, nursing programme, and discharge education, whereas the experimental group was managed with a 4-week kangaroo mother care intervention. The psychological stress state and sleep status of mothers with preterm infants in both the groups were evaluated using the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90) and Assens Insomnia Scale (AIS).

Results: After the intervention, the total SCL-90 score and factor scores such as coercion, interpersonal relationships, depression, anxiety, hostility and additional factors, were lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The total AIS score and the items such as night waking, total sleep time, total sleep quality, daytime mood and daytime body function were lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The Kangaroo mother care approach can relieve adverse psychological stress and improve the sleep status of mothers of NICU premature infants after mother-infant separation. It can be promoted and used in mothers of premature infants in the NICU to enhance physical and mental health.

Keywords: Kangaroo mother care; mother-infant separation; mothers of preterm infants; psychological stress; sleep quality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant disposition by allocation to experimental or control group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Rogers CE, Kidokoro H, Wallendorf M, Inder TE. Identifying mothers of very preterm infants at-risk for postpartum depression and anxiety before discharge. J Perinatol. (2013) 33:171–76. 10.1038/jp.2012.75 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jiang PH, Tao YQ, Ling H. Anxiety, depression and influencing factors of mothers of premature infants in neonatal ICU. J Nurs. (2017) 24:43–47. 10.16460/j.issn1008-9969.2017.17.043 - DOI
    1. Lee SY, Grantham CH, Shelton S, Meaney-Delman D. Does activity matter: an exploratory study among mothers with preterm infants? Arch Womens Mental Health. (2012) 15:185–92. 10.1007/s00737-012-0275-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee SY, Kimble LP. Impaired sleep and well-being in mothers with low-birth-weight infants. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. (2009) 38:676–85. 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2009.01064.x - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO Immediate KMC Study Group. Arya S, Naburi H, Kawaza K, Newton S, Anyabolu CH, et al. . Immediate “Kangaroo Mother Care” and survival of infants with low birth weight. N Engl J Med. (2021) 384:2028–38. 10.1056/NEJMoa2026486 - DOI - PMC - PubMed