Stress level in parents with premature children hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Hospital del Niño Dr. José Renán Esquivel during the month of July 2022

Abstract

Introduction: A premature birth is an unexpected event for the parents, generating fear, anxiety and guilt, due to the termination of pregnancy and the baby's condition. The mother with a premature child is three times more likely to have postpartum depression, and advances in technology have increased the chances of survival in premature babies, but they are prone to have complications in the medium and long term.

Materials and methods: We conducted an observational, descriptive study, applying a survey to 52 parents with preterm infants less than or equal to 36 Weeks of Gestational Age (WGA), who remained 7 or more days hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), in the Neonatology Ward of the Hospital del Niño Dr. José Renán Esquivel, during the month of July 2022, transferred from the Hospital Santo Tomás.

Results: According to the results of our study, parents perceived themselves as not at all to slightly stressed in 69.2%, but when subdividing the scale in the level of extra and intrapersonal stress, in the latter they had a stress level of moderate to extremely stressful in 75%, therefore, 94.2% expressed the desire to have a support group.

Conclusion: It is indispensable for parents to have a support group.