The effect of supportive care program based on Bandura self-efficacy on stress-exacerbating and stress-relieving factors of neonatal mothers admitted to neonatal intensive care unit

The birth of a premature baby can change all the emotions of parents and replace stress. It is necessary to identify the factors that aggravate and relieve maternal stress and adopt strategies to reduce it. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of supportive care program based on Bandura’s self-efficacy on aggravating and stress relieving factors of mothers of neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit

A quasi-experimental study was performed in 2020 on 90 mothers of premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of a Hospital in Shahrekord by convenience sampling method. The experimental group has received an educational intervention based on the theory of self-efficacy in four two-hour sessions with the presentation of an educational booklet. Data were collected using a self-designed questionnaire before and after the intervention in both groups and were analyzed using SPSS software version 24 performing paired t-test, independent t-test, and Chi-square.

The results showed that the mean score of stressors in mothers of preterm infants in the control group decreased from 42.73 ± 6.26 to 42.62 ± 7.09, which was not statistically significant (P= 0.906) while in the experimental group it was decreased from 48.78 ± 4.36 to 25.33 ± 4.84, which was statistically significant (P <0.001). The mean score of soothing agents for mothers of preterm infants increased from 2.98 ± 2.61 to 3.07 ± 2.29 in the control group which was not statistically significant (P = 0.415) and in the experimental group it was increased from 4.51±1.72 to 7.29 ± 1.16, which was statistically significant (P <0.001).

Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended to implement interventions to make parents of premature infants, especially mothers ready to face the baby in the intensive care unit.