The relationship between anxiety, depression, stress and maternal attachment of mothers whose premature babies are in the neonatal intensive care unit

Background and Aim: The research was conducted to reveal the relationship between anxiety, depression, stress and maternal attachment levels of mothers whose premature babies were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Level Neonatal Intensive Care Units of Istanbul Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital between November 2021 and December 2022. Mothers whose premature baby was hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit n = 175 were included in the study. Data collection form, Maternal Attachment Scale (MAS), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used. Results: When the neonatal intensive care unit steps of premature babies were examined in the study; It was determined that 14.9% received treatment in the first step, 39.4% in the second step, and 45.7% in the third step. According to the comparison results of mothers' DASS-21 Anxiety-Depression-Stress scores according to neonatal intensive care unit levels; The anxiety score (mean=7.76) of mothers in the 3rd level of the neonatal intensive care unit was higher than those in the 1st step (mean=4.19), their stress score (mean=8.65) was higher than those in the 1st step (mean=5.38), their depression score (mean=7.31) was higher. ) was found to be higher (p<0.05) than those in the first step (mean=4.20). When looking at the relationship between MAS and DASS-21; A significant relationship was found only between the MAS score and anxiety score of mothers at the 3rd level. (p=0.042<0.05). Conclusion: It can be said that the depression-anxiety-stress level of mothers in the 3rd step of the neonatal intensive care unit is higher than the mothers in the 1st step, and as the maternal attachment level of mothers in the 3rd step increases, the anxiety level also increases. It is recommended that nurses working at tertiary level monitor and objectively evaluate the psychological status of mothers with premature babies, benefit from evidence-based nursing practices that reduce the level of depression-anxiety-stress in mothers, and refer them to relevant units to receive psychological-psychiatric support when needed. Keywords: Prematurıty, maternal attachment, stress, anxiety, depression