Objective: To examine the effects of a home follow-up program in Turkey on care problems, anxiety, and depression levels of mothers after the birth of a premature baby.
Methods: A semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design. Eighty premature newborns and their mothers were included in the study. Nursing care was given to mothers and babies in the study group through a total of four home visits on weeks 1, 2, 3, and days 40-42 in Kırıkkale, Turkey guided by the Nursing Diagnosis System and Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) system of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA). Data were collected from a sociodemographics form, home care needs evaluation form, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, and State Anxiety Inventory.
Results: There were no significant differences between groups for nursing diagnoses at baseline, while the study group resulted in significantly fewer problems on days 40-42, compared to the control group. Mothers had a comparatively lower depression and state anxiety risk in the study group compared to the control group.
Conclusions: Providing home-based nursing care for preterm mothers and babies during the first 40-42 days has the potential to decrease postnatal care problems, including maternal depression and state anxiety levels.
Keywords: anxiety; baby care; depression; home follow-up; premature infant.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.