PURPOSE: A pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention program for mothers of very low birth-weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
SUBJECTS: Thirty-three mothers of infants born weighing less than 1500 g.
DESIGN: A single-group, pretest-posttest design was used.
METHODS: Preintervention mothers completed self-report questionnaires and their interaction with their infant was observed. Mothers then received the intervention program. Mothers were assessed twice postintervention, first when the infant was 1/2 months old and again at 6 months. At the postintervention assessments, mothers completed the same questionnaires and interaction was observed.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mothers completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the revised Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the NICU Parental Beliefs Scale, and the Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire. Interactions between mothers and infants were rated by trained research staff using the Index of Parental Behaviour in the NICU. Postintervention mothers also responded to a questionnaire that assessed their perceptions of the intervention program.
RESULTS: It was feasible to enroll mothers because 62% of eligible mothers agreed to participate. However, 39% of mothers who enrolled withdrew. Most of the mothers who withdrew did so before even beginning the intervention, and many of these women were mothers of multiples. It was also feasible to provide the intervention because more than 80% of mothers who began the intervention received all 6 teaching sessions. Mothers found both the content and the format of the program to be acceptable. There were nonetheless several challenges in conducting an intervention study with mothers early in the NICU hospitalization.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot study are encouraging. It was found to be both feasible and acceptable to provide the intervention program to mothers during the NICU hospitalization. The effectiveness of this program needs to be assessed in a randomized controlled trial.
