The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a nursing intervention on the mother's postpartum adjustment and perception of her infant. The intervention was designed to give information about infant behaviour patterns; and to assist the mother in identifying the behavioural responses and reflex behaviours characteristic of her infant.
A quasi-experimental design was utilized with random assignment of the twenty-five married primiparous participants to either an experimental or a control group. The subjects in the experimental group took part in the nursing intervention approximately twelve days following their infants' births; the fathers of the infants were also present during the intervention.
All participants completed the Neonatal Perception Inventory and the Postnatal Research Inventory one month postpartum. Data were also obtained from the mothers' hospital records. Statistical analysis comparing the scores for the two groups indicated that experimental group mothers had a more positive perception of their infants. In addition, they reported less depression and irritability and fewer negative feelings towards caring for their babies. There were no differences between experimental and control group mothers on seven other scales of maternal adjustment. Correlations between the perception scale and maternal adjustment inventory across all subjects showed that positive perception of the infant was associated with low scores on scales of depression, irritability, fear or concern for the baby, and the mother's need for reassurance.
These findings were discussed in relation to their implications for clinical practice. Suggestions for further research into other variables that may be influential in the postpartum period were also outlined. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/20822 |
| Date | January 1978 |
| Creators | Davidson, Sheena Mary |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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