The parental stress sources and some related factors in mothers of premature s Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

preterm birth is a stressful event for families. This study was conducted to determine the parental stress sources and some related factors in mothers of premature s Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. In a cross-sectional design study, a total number of 153 mothers with Premature Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units were recruited through the convenient sampling method. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, and Miles’s parental stress tool. This Likert scaled tool contained three dimensions of “sights and sound, baby looks and behaves and change in parental role. The factors related to sight and sounds (3.43±1.33) were considered as the most important stressor for mothers. The factors related to change in parental role (3.30±0.86) and baby looks and behaves (2.90±0.87) were in the next order, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a direct significant correlation between the gestational age and birth weight and an indirect significant correlation between the number of hospitalization days with parental stress (p<0.05). Also, based on Spearman's correlation coefficient, the connection of newborns to ventilator had a direct and significant statistical relationship with parental stress (p<0.05). Based on the results, the necessity of interventions to reduce the stress of mothers of premature infants admitted to the intensive care unit is necessary, especially in the context of environmental factors causing tension in mothers of neonates with lower birth weight, lower gestational age and mothers of neonates connected to ventilator and mothers of infants who are stay for a longer period in NICU