Levels of knowledge about the neurological development of infants, epilepsy and cerebral palsy of mothers with premature infants

Objective: Preterm is defined as babies born alive before gestational week 37 from first day of menstruation by World Health Organization (WHO). The life is changed positively and negatively for a mother giving preterm birth. In addition, it is known that neurocognitive dysfunction and behavioral problems are increased by earlier gestational weeks and there is an increasing awareness regarding such problems. Although there are many studies on premature infants in the literature, there is a scarcity in studies about concerns and level of knowledge in mothers. In this study, we aimed to determine concerns and level of knowledge about neurological complications in mothers of infants born at ≤gestational week 37 by interviewing mothers. Method: The study included all mothers of infants with gestational age ≤37 weeks fulfilling inclusion crtieria who were admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Pediatric Department of Gaziosmanpaşa University, Medicine School or followed at neonatal outpatient clinic between January, 2018 and December, 2018. In all infants and mothers, data regarding demographic characteristics and neonatal period were recorded in detailed manner. The mothers were stratified according to age, education, social environment and employment status. A survey was completed by mothers via face-to-face interview. A detailed neurological examination was performed in all infants before survey and counseling regarding development and neurological disorders of preterm infants were provided to parents after survey. Results: The study included mothers of 102 preterm infant. Mean maternal age was 29.71±6.00 years while mean gestational age at birth was 33.1±2.58 weeks. Mean number of child was 2.13±1.00 among mothers. It was found that 51 mothers (50.0%) had no information about cerebral palsy while only 23 mothers (22.5%) were informed by a clinician. Again, 21 mothers (20.5%) had knowledge that there would be no dominant hand choice before one year of age. Majority of mothers had knowledge that visual and auditory problems are more common in preterm infants. The question" Do you have any information about epilepsy" was responded as "yes" by 12 mothers (11.7%) whereas "little" by 63 mothers (61.7%) and "no" by 27 mothers (25.4%). Our findings suggest that mothers are thinking that developmental milestones will be gained in further months by increasing severity of prematurity. It was also seen that the concerns of mothers are increased by decreasing gestational week at birth while concerns are higher in mothers of infants with prematurity-related health problems. Conclusion: It was seen that mothers with preterm infant have concerns about developmental milestones such as learning, visual functions and cognitive functions of the infants during first year of age. The number of mothers having knowledge about neurological findings and rate of learning such information from a clinician were fairly low. Majority of mothers did not know that infants would not have hand preference before one year of age. Again, number of mothers having sufficient knowledge about epilepsy and number of mothers thinking that she have sufficient ability to intervene a person with seizure were also fairly low. The mothers with lower gestational age at birth thought that their infants will gain development milestones in a delayed manner. The higher level of overall anxiety seems to be related with insufficient level of knowledge about neurological complications and lower rates of learning such information from a healthcare professional. Thus, we think that healthcare professional should provide detailed information to mothers with preterm infants about potential neurological findings that may develop due to preterm birth. This counseling is important to establish regular control visits for infant and for early detection of neurological complications. Keywords: Newborn, prematurity, neurological findings, level of findings