[The relationship between early neo-maternal exposure, and maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression in the mothers of NICU infants].
OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to investigate the quantities of three neo-maternal exposures; visiting frequency, auditory contact and physical contact, and to examine the relationship between the quantities of each exposure and maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression in 40 mothers of NICU babies during the first week in the NICU.


METHODS
Each neo-maternal exposure was counted at every mother's visit to the newborn and maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression were measured using the maternal attachment inventory, the maternal self-report inventory and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) on the first and seventh day in the NICU.


RESULTS
The Mean of each neo-maternal exposure was 8.77(2.81) for the visiting frequency, 5.82(3.66) for the auditory contact and 5.60(2.89) for the physical contact during 7 days in the NICU. No significant changes were found in the scores of maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression between the first and the seventh day in the NICU. The quantities of neo-maternal exposures were positively related to the scores of maternal attachment and maternal self-esteem but not related to postpartum depression.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study suggest the lack of early neo-maternal exposure in cases of NICU hospitalization negate its beneficial effects on maternal psychological well-being in increasing maternal attachment and self-esteem. More efforts are needed for the neo-maternal interaction and the reevaluation of NICU visitation hours in order to promote maternal-infant interaction.
Ahn
Young-Mee
YM
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea. aym@inha.ac.kr
Kim
Mi-Ran
MR
D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D009769:Object Attachment; D012649:Self Concept