Teenage maternal adjustment during the transition from hospital to home with a pre-term or low birth weight infant: The role of community services
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Rowe, Jen
Sheeran, Nicola
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract
This study was conducted by Dr Liz Jones, a psychologist, Dr Jennifer Rowe, a social scientist/nurse academic, and Nicola Sheeran, a Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate, from Griffith University. Assistance was also provided by Ms Lisa Farnell who worked as a research assistant on the project. This study was made possible by the collaboration and assistance of the Nurse Unit Managers for each facility and staff from all of the agencies and government departments documented. The research was supported by funding from the Department of Communities Priority Research Program Grant. This report integrates data collected in 3 phases during the project entitled “Teenage maternal adjustment during the transition from hospital to home with a pre-term or low birth weight infant: The role of community services”. The initial phase of the project gathered information about the support services (government and non-government organisations (NGO’s)) available to young mothers of preterm or low-birth-weight (LBW) infants in Metropolitan and Regional areas. This information was reported to the Department of Communities in September 2008 and allowed researchers to generate site-specific measures to ascertain whether young mothers are aware of the formal support services available to them and whether they used the services (Jones, Rowe, & Sheeran, 2008). Phase two of the project involved interviewing young mothers of both term and preterm infants prior to discharge from the hospital about their experiences during their pregnancy and at the hospital (Jones, Rowe, & Sheeran, 2009). Factors such as stress, coping and psychological adjustment, as well as their expectations of parenting and current sense of selfefficacy regarding parenting were assessed both during the interview and via questionnaires. Mothers also provided in-depth information about their support networks and knowledge and/or use of formal support services in their areas. Phase 3 involved re-interviewing the young mothers at between 3 and 4 months post discharge of their infant. At this time, mothers provided information on their experiences of parenting, psychological adjustment, current sense of parental self-efficacy, and methods of coping. In addition, mothers provided information on the amount of social support available to them, satisfaction with this support, use of formal support services, and reasons for and against accessing support services. A final sample of 40 young mothers (aged 15-19, M= 17.35) were recruited into the research program. Of this number, 20 gave birth to preterm or LBW babies and 20 gave birth to full term babies. Young mothers were recruited from the special care nurseries (SCN) of four hospitals: 5 Logan, Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital (RBWH), Ipswich, and Caboolture and via antenatal appointments at Ipswich and Caboolture hospital. Young mothers recruited at the Ipswich and Caboolture sites were tracked regardless of birth outcome, with the young mothers of full term babies serving as key informants or information-rich cases whose study illuminates the research questions (Patton, 2002). In total, 7 mothers were recruited from Logan SCN, 6 mothers from RBWH SCN, 4 from Caboolture (3 full term and 1 preterm), and 23 from Ipswich hospital (17 full term and 6 preterm).
Journal Title
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© Griffith University 2009.
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
young mothers
preterm or low-birth-weight (LBW) infants
community services
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Jones, L., Rowe, J., & Sheeran, N. (2009). Teenage maternal adjustment during the transition from hospital to home with a pre-term or low birth weight infant: The role of community services. Griffith University and Department of Communities. https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/4551