Late preterm birth is a strong predictor of maternal stress later in life: Retrospective cohort study in school-aged children

Aim The aim of this study was to compare the level of stress in mothers of school‐aged children born late preterm and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with the level of maternal stress if a child was born late preterm and not admitted to the ICU as well as if a full‐term child was admitted to the ICU. Methods In this retrospective cohort study the data were gathered via telephone interview with mothers. The Parenting Stress Index/Short Form was used to determine the level of stress in mothers. Background demographic characteristics, medically relevant variables, and the level of stress were tested using the chi‐square test and Kruskal‐Wallis test. Logistic regression was used in order to identify predictors of significant level of stress. Results Mothers of late preterm born children who were admitted to the ICU, as well as mothers of late preterm children who were not admitted had higher level of stress compared to mothers of full‐term children. Namely, mothers of late preterm born children admitted to the ICU had 18‐fold increase in risk for significant level of total stress (OR = 18.09; 95% CI 8.55 to 38.26) while 24‐fold greater risk was observed in mothers of late preterm children who were not admitted to the ICU (OR = 24.05; 95% CI 10.66 to 54.26) in comparison to mothers of full‐term born children. Conclusion Results indicate that preterm birth and its complications are associated with a higher level of stress in mothers, that persists to school age.