POST PARTUM EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN MOTHERS OF PRETERM INFANTS: A CONTROLLED STUDY

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Objectives: To investigate whether mothers of preterm infants experience more
psychological distress than mothers of normal full term infants in the immediate
postpartum period.
Design: Cross sectional prospective study of postpartal women using the Beck Depression
Inventory(BDI) and the GHQ-30.
Setting: Neonatal intensive care units and the obstetric units of Wesley Guild Hospital,
Ilesa or Multipurpose Health Centre, Ilesa(These are component Units of Obafemi
Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Osun State Nigeria).
Results: Of the 60 postnatal women recruited into the study, 33 mothers of preterm
neonates formed the index group and 27 mothers of full term normal infants constituted
the control group. More mothers of preterm neonates(27.3%) had GHQ-30 scores which
categorised them as having significant emotional distress than mothers of full term
normal infants(3.7%). Similarly more mothers of preterm neonates(15.1%) were more
depressed than mothers of full term normal infants(3.7%). These differences were found
to be statistically significant when the mean scores of the two groups on the instrument
swere compared.
Conclusion: These problems are not usually detected nor appropriately referred by the
paediatrician/obstetrician to the psychiatrist. This has a number of implications for
preventive psychiatry. A multidisciplinary approach is therefore essential in the detection
and management of these problems.