The effect of a training program on maternal role adaptation and self-esteem of mothers with preterm infants: a quasi-experimental study

Admission of preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit limits the mother’s interaction with their infants, delaying accepting and playing the motherhood role. Besides, mothers of preterm infants have low self-esteem due to their infants' condition. Accordingly, the present study explored the effect of implementing the training program on maternal role adaptation and self-esteem of mothers of preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

This study employed a quasi-experimental design with two groups. The participants were 80 mothers of preterm infants. The participants were selected using convenience sampling and simply randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The instruments included a demographic information questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Maternal Role Adaptation Scale. The participants in the intervention group attended the training program, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The questionnaires were completed by the two groups before and 2 weeks after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21, a significance level of 0.05.

The maternal role adaptation scores before the intervention in the control and intervention groups were 134.222 ± 11.84 and 138.800 ± 12.42, respectively, showing no statistically significant difference (P = 0.096). The corresponding scores after the intervention for the control and intervention groups were 139.17 ± 12.46 and 154.05 ± 8.57, showing a significant intergroup difference (P < 0.001). Similarly, the pre-intervention self-esteem scores in the control and intervention groups were 30.30 ± 3.79 and 30.95 ± 8.61, showing no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.664). Besides, the post-intervention self-esteem scores in the control and intervention groups were 31.52 ± 3.42 and 36.001 ± 7.74, respectively, indicating a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001).

Given the insight from this study, implementing training programs is a suitable solution for improving maternal role adaptation and increasing mothers' self-esteem. Furthermore, nurses’ training packages can help the mother accept the maternal role more quickly and improve the mother's self-esteem for better care of the baby.