A Comparative Study on Confidence in Newborn Care and Postpartum Fatigue of Puerperal Mothers

Abstract

This descriptive survey research elucidates the confidence in newborn care and the postpartum fatigue of puerperal mothers in rooming-in and non-rooming-in groups, and investigates relevant factors with intent to provide reference data needed to perform proper nursing intervention for the confidence in newborn care and the postnatal fatigue. A total of 159 subjects (43 in a rooming-in group vs. 116 in a non-rooming-in group) staying in a university hospital and a women's hospital in Uijeongbu City within 48 hours after giving birth were selected. The confidence in newborn care was measured with the Revised Self Confidence Scale, whilst the postpartum fatigue was measured with the Fatigue Continuum Form. Demographic information and obstetric characteristics were collected with a self-reporting questionnaire survey. In short, based on the Revised Self Confidence Scale, comfort & safety (t=2.876, p=.005), feeding (t=2.281, p=.024), infant's behavior (t=2.395, p=.018), hygiene control (t=2.978, p=.003), health & illness (t=3.646, p<.001) and confidence in newborn care showed significant total scores (t=2.997, p=.003). Based on the Fatigue Continuum Form, the physical, psychological, and neurosensory fatigue scores and the total fatigue score did not show any statistical significance in each area (t=1.169, p=..244)(t=1.941, p=.054)(t=1.863, p=.064)(t=1.897, p=.060). The present findings can be applied as the reference data conducive to correcting the myth among puerperal mothers that rooming-in will increase the postnatal fatigue and supporting the benefits of rooming-in.

A Comparative Study on Confidence in Newborn Care and Postpartum Fatigue of Puerperal Mothers in Rooming-in vs. Non-rooming-in Groups

“…This finding is in contrast to a previous report that breast-feeding puerperal mothers felt more physical fatigue than the bottle-feeding counterparts [18,19]. Yet, the present finding seems consistent with the report that the rooming-in group's fatigue scores were marginally higher, which implied that rooming-in was often less preferred due to the psychological burden over puerperal mothers' being with new-born babies when they had to take a sufficient rest, and due to the concern over physical fatigue resulting from sleep disturbance [15].…”