Primiparous mothers’ concerns at the first and sixth month of the postpartum period

Title : Primiparous mothers’ concerns at the first and sixth month of the postpartum period

Abstract:

Maternal concerns reflect the mothers’ needs during their transition into the postpartum period, as well as the changes related to taking on new roles and redefining responsibilities within the parental/family dyad.

Therefore, maternal concerns during the period of transition to parenthood can have a differential impact on the adaptation to the new parenting role.

Objectives: This presentation aims to identify primiparous mothers’ concerns at the 1^st and 6^th month of the postpartum period and assess their change and stability.

Material and Methods: The Portuguese version (QPM, Mendes, Caetano, Azeredo and Rodrigues, 2012) of the Mothers’ Concerns Questionnaire (MoCQ, Kaitz, 2007) was applied at 1 and 6 months postpartum. The questionnaires were delivered at the maternity hospital to be filed out at the 1^st and 6^th month of the postpartum period. The MoCQ is a self-administered questionnaire on the mothers’ perception of their concerns in the postpartum period. It consists of a Likert scale composed of 41 items with five dimensions: Family Health/Return to work/Mother’s Well-Being/Social support network/Infant Care/Marital relationship. Sample: 161 primiparous mothers of healthy full-term newborns, only child.

Results: The following results were obtained:

In the “Family health” dimension at 1^st month, the major concerns were “knowing when baby is sick” and “baby’s health”. The mothers were less concerned about “your health”.

In the “Return to work” dimension, they were more concerned about the “separation from baby” and “getting back to work”. At 6 months, they were still more concerned about the separation from the baby.

In the “Mother’s Well-Being” dimension at the 1^st month, they were more concerned about “being a good mother” and less concerned about “being left out”. At 6 months, they increased their concerns about “having time for personal needs”.

In the “Social support network” dimension, concerns related to “emotional support” “relationship with relatives”, and “accessibility of practical help” decreased between the 1^st and the 6^th month. The concern about the “relationship with friends” increased between the 1^st and the 6^th month. “Economic issues” were the mothers’ major concern in both moments.

In the “Infant care” dimension at 1^st month, the mothers were more concerned about “daycare” and “feeding the infant”. At 6 months, the concerns decreased in all items.

In the “Marital relationship” dimension, “finding time to be with spouse” increased between the 1^st and the 6^th month. The “spouse’s health” scores remained the same in both moments. To sum up, primiparous mothers’ concerns decreased between the 1^st and the 6^th month of the postpartum period.

Conclusion: These results allow us to identify the mothers’ concerns in the postpartum period and associate predictors of greater concern. As a result, they allow us to implement courses for parent educators and help couples prepare for parenthood.

Audience Take Away

• With this study, we expect to provide relevant information for the nurses taking on pedagogical roles in the development and implementation of strategies to respond to mothers’ major concerns in the postpartum period.
• In this way, the knowledge about the mothers’ concerns becomes relevant for nursing clinical practice, namely through the provision of consistent data about parenting skills and child behavior, as well as the promotion of effective coping strategies to strengthen the mother’s skills for an effective transition into the parenting role.

Biography:

In 1999 she specialized in Maternal Health and Obstetric Nursing. In 2010, she completed the Master’s in Psychology - specialization in Pedagogical Psychology from the University of Coimbra.

In 2005, she started working at the Nursing School of Coimbra as an Assistant and is now Adjunct Professor at the same School. She is attending the PhD in Nursing Sciences at the Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, in the area of parenting and mothers’ concerns in the post-partum period.