Impact of Empowerment Program on the Self-efficacy of Mothers of Premature Infants and their Re-hospitalization

The transition from hospital to home in preterm infants is a critical period for parents, and many are discharged from hospital in a situation requiring more care and more accurate follow up. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of empowerment program on the self-efficacy of mothers of premature infants and their newborn hospitalization. Pre-post and post-test clinical trials, 60 premature infants and their mothers from Kermanshah Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were selected by simple sampling method and assigned to control and test groups. Mothers in the control group received routine care and in the test group, in addition to routine care, the desired intervention (including: hand washing, feeding, baby booster training, taking medication, touching and massage the baby, how Bathing, prevention of infection, warning signs and neonates). Data were collected through questionnaires including maternal, neonatal, and maternal health records at the time of admission and before discharge by researcher and mother. Also, by registering the mother's telephone number, 15 days after discharge, the newborn's hospitalization was followed up. Then Data were analyzed by independent t-test and paired t-test. In all dimensions, the level of self-efficacy of mothers, except for the importance dimension, in the empowerment group increased significantly compared to the control group (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in maternal self-efficacy between the two groups in significance dimension (P = 0.202). The rate of hospitalization in the empowerment group was significantly lower than the control group (P = 0.043). Implementation of the empowerment plan for mothers of premature infants to discharge and their active participation in the care of their infants. By increasing the rate of mothers' autoimmunity for the healthy delivery of newborns to their home and reducing the rate of newborn hospitalization, in addition to reducing neonatal complications and costs, Therapy is also reduced.