Research Article

Anxiety Appraisal in Mothers of Preterm Neonates Admitted in Critical Care Unit

Rafia Gul, Samer Fatima, Samina Khurshid, Sidra Niamat, Zahid Anwar, Saher Gul Ahdi

Archives of Clinical and Biomedical Research · Vol. 9, No. 1 · Published January 23, 2025 · DOI: 10.26502/acbr.50170432

iD ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0605-7089 · View All Publications by Dr. Rafia Gul

In Brief

When a baby is born early and needs intensive care, it is natural for a mother to feel worried. Sometimes that worry becomes anxiety that affects her health and her bond with her baby, yet it often goes unnoticed. This study screened 430 mothers of premature babies to see how common anxiety was and which mothers were most at risk.

Key Points

• A descriptive cross-sectional study of 430 mothers of preterm neonates in the level-III neonatal unit of Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, from July 2021 to July 2023.
• Mothers were screened with the 31-item Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS). About 28% (121 of 430) had anxiety: 19% mild to moderate and 9% severe.
• Birth before 32 weeks (especially before 28 weeks), first-time motherhood and a small for gestational age (SGA) baby were the strongest independent risk factors.
• Living in an extended family system was protective and lowered the chance of maternal anxiety.

Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS)AnxietyPreterm NICUSmall for Gestational Age (SGA)Extended Family System

Published in Archives of Clinical and Biomedical Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2025), Research Article. Open Access under CC BY 4.0. PDF shared by the authors.