. Ashraf Khoramirad; . Zahra Abedini; . Zohre Khalajinia
Volume 11, Issue 8 , September 2021, , Pages 1-6
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Having a baby admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is so stressful, hasa negative impact on mother well‑being, and also disrupts mother‑infant bonding process ...
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BACKGROUND: Having a baby admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is so stressful, hasa negative impact on mother well‑being, and also disrupts mother‑infant bonding process becausethe infant spend the first several weeks or months in the NICU. Previous studies have shown thepositive association of the mindfulness and various health conditions. This study investigated therelationship between mothers’ dispositional mindfulness and level of stress and bonding in motherswith infants in the NICU.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross‑sectional study was performed during 2019 on 140 motherswith newborns admitted to the NICUs in two hospitals in Qom city in Iran. The self‑report measures ofdispositional mindfulness, Parental Stressor Scale: NICU, and the Postpartum Bonding Questionnairewere administered to mothers on the 2nd–5th day after birth. The data analysis was carried out byusing a stepwise multiple regression model.RESULTS: The mean scores of mindfulness, stress, and bonding were 3.32 ± 0.52, 2.32 ± 0.77,and 0.47 ± 0.37, respectively. There was a statistically significant inverse relationship between totalmindfulness score and stress (P < 0.001). Furthermore, high scores of mindfulness were associatedwith better bonding (P = 0.04).CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in mindfulness helps mothers to reduce stress and make betterbonding with infants. It is recommended that mindfulness interventions use during pregnancy alsoafter birth, especially for mothers that their infants admitted to in the NICUs.