Investigation of factors affecting maternal bonding of mothers of the preterm infants hospitalised in neonatal intensive care unit

Introduction: Preventing mother-infant attachment during the newborn period, early separation of the baby from the mother and fear of the mother for the safety of the baby prevents the development of a satisfying relationship between the mother and the baby and affects the mother-infant attachment process negatively. When the attachment is not healthy between mother and infant in the first year, the babies can experience emotional, social, physical problems and language development problems in their later ages and also establish healthy relationships with other people, give normal reactions under stress and have difficulty in establishing healthy bonds with their children themselves. Aim: The study was conducted to determine the effects of socio-demographic and descriptive characteristics of preterm infants who spend their first weeks of life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) due to premature delivery and preterm infants' mothers, gestation period of mothers and care process of preterm infants in NİCU on mother-infant attachment. Materials and methods: The sample of the study consists of 60 mothers of preterm infants who were hospitalised between January-September 2016 in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a foundation hospital in Istanbul . The data of the study were collected with the "Description Form for the Preterm Baby", "Description Form for the Gestation Period of Mothers and Care Process of Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit." and "Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire". Data were evaluated in SPSS 20.0 program, determining statistical analyses (number, percent, average, standart deviation, minimum-maximum value), Independent sample t test, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis Variance Analysis and with %95 trust interval, p<0.05 meaning level. Results: As a result of the research; 56.7% of the mothers were in the age range of 29-35 years and the majority (70%) of the mothers were at the undergraduate or graduate level and the working mothers (65%). 53.3% of preterm infants were found to be born between 32-35 weeks, 55% were weighing 1501-2500 gr, and 56.7% were able to achieve spontaneous respiration. The relation between maternal attachment and the following was detected; birth weeks of preterm infants, maternal abortus/abortion history, maternal pregnancy rate, the duration of the interview with preterm baby, the feeling when the preterm baby is first seen by mothers, frequency of hug, the feeling that the mother takes her preterm baby, the state of feeding of preterm baby by mother. Conclusion and recommendations: As a result of this research, sociodemografic characteristics of mother and preterm infants don't affect attachment but, birth weeks of preterm infants, maternal abortus/abortion history, maternal pregnancy rate, the duration of the interview with preterm baby, the feeling when the preterm baby is first seen by mothers, frequency of hug, the feeling that the mother takes her preterm baby, the state of feeding of preterm baby by mother affect mother-infant attachment. Identification of risky mothers starting from the prenatal period, increasing the knowledge about attachment for nurses, nurses encouraged to join the mother for care of preterm infant in the postpartum period, and repetition of this study on different groups including preterm infants and mothers. Key words: preterm infants, attachment, mother-infant attachment, nursing