Can spiritual care education reduce the anxiety of mothers of hospitalized immature infants?

Abstract

Background: Hospitalization of a preterm infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a significant stressor for mothers, often leading to heightened anxiety that affects both their well-being and maternal-infant interaction. Spiritual self-care is a nonpharmacological approach that can help mothers manage anxiety and cope with their child's hospitalization. This study examines the impact of spiritual self-care education on maternal anxiety in mothers with preterm infants admitted to the NICU.

Materials and methods: This quasi-experimental study involved 90 mothers of preterm infants, selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to control (n = 45) and intervention (n = 45) groups. The intervention consisted of five 45-min spiritual self-care training sessions held every other day. Participants provided written informed consent, and data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (21 items). > Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27. The software was developed by IBM Corp., located in Armonk, New York, United States, applying t-tests, Chi-square tests, and analysis of variance.

Results: The mean maternal age was 32.4 ± 5.7 years in the intervention group and 33 ± 6.06 years in the control group (P < 0.05). The mean birth weight was lower in the intervention group (2063.1 ± 460.98 g vs. 2278 ± 275.57 g, P < 0.05). Anxiety scores decreased significantly post-intervention in both groups (P < 0.001), with a greater reduction observed in the intervention group.

Conclusion: Spiritual self-care education significantly reduces anxiety in mothers of preterm infants, suggesting its usefulness for healthcare providers. Future research should explore how best to integrate spiritual self-care education into standard NICU care and investigate its impact on long-term maternal mental health outcomes.