Mother-child separation: a study in a remote health care setting.
The literature indicates that the birth of a sibling and the consequent temporary separation from the mother is usually a stressful experience for a child. It was hypothesized that this stress would result in an increased number of visits by the child to health care facilities because of new health problems. In a controlled study of 89 matched pairs of Indian families in a remote region of northwestern Ontario this hypothesis was not supported. During the intervals studied - the anticipatory period before delivery, the separation itself and the period immediately following the mother's return home - the number of diagnoses of new medical problems was significantly less for the children who were separated from their mothers for the birth of a sibling. As well, the number of diagnoses of new medical problems in the children separated form their mothers decreased over the three intervals. The fathers' reluctance to seek health care probably played a major role in this decrease.
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D008297:Male; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D009864:Ontario; D010372:Pediatrics; D011247:Pregnancy; D012801:Sibling Relations