Parenting Stress and Low-Birth Weight Infants

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a summary and evaluation of an article on family adaptation during the postpartum period to low birth weight infants, entitled "Maternal Psychological Distress and Parenting Stress and Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants". The purpose of the article was to determine both the degree and the type of stress experienced over time by mothers of infants with varying degrees of prematurity and medical and development risk. The article, authored by Singer and associates (1999) is summarized in terms of its theoretical framework, hypotheses, methodology, sample, findings, and conclusions. It is then analyzed in terms of its strengths and weaknesses and its relevance to the practice of midwifery.

From the Paper:

"Results of the study were said to show that mothers of VLBW infants evidenced significantly more psychological distress than mothers of term infants at one mother of age. By two years of age, mothers of of low-risk VLBW infants did not differ in psychological distress from term mothers; however, mothers of high risk VLBW infants continued to show high levels of distress.

At three years of age, mothers of high-risk VLBW children did not differ from mothers of term children in distress symptoms, but parenting stress remained greater. Severity of maternal depression was found to be related to lower child developmental outcomes in both VLBW groups."

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