Mothers' childcare stress: Stress factors identified at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Japan

Purpose Some cases of child abuse are preventable if experts recognize mothers’ childcare stress, especially the stress of parents who have newborn babies. This study clarifies the relationship between childcare stress and... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose
Some cases of child abuse are preventable if experts recognize mothers’ childcare stress, especially the stress of parents who have newborn babies. This study clarifies the relationship between childcare stress and the mothers’ conditions during pregnancy, the puerperal period, and childbirth.

Method
Participnts were mothers who gave birth at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Japan. The survey was conducted with 55 pregnant women who agreed to participate in this study. In this clinic, 313 women gave birth from April 2014 to June 2015. To evaluate the stress levels and the mothers’ conditions, this study introduced the Parent Stress Index (PSI), the personal record of each pregnant woman, including age, working arrangements, the number of her children, her experience of abortion, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPSD) and the records taken at childbirth (baby’s sex, weight, and Apgar score). To assess the relationship between the value of PSI and the conditions of both mothers and children before and after birth, a coefficient of correlation value was introduced in this study.

Results
The PSI values were generally related to the mother’s age. The subscale of PSI was influenced by the mother’s age, working arrangements, experience of abortion, EPDS, the number of her children, and the baby’s sex and weight.

Conclusion
This study identified the importance of the support system for pregnant women. To prevent child abuse, clinics should identify those pregnant women who are likely to suffer an increase in childcare stress after they give birth.