[Effectiveness of videotape education for mothers of prematurity].

ABSTRACT

To investigate the effectiveness of an educational videotape on preterm mothers' knowledge, confidence, perceived stress, and social support, mothers who had given birth prematurely were recruited to participate in this study. Sixty-two mothers were randomly assigned to a control or experimental group. During hospitalization, mothers assigned to the experimental group received additional educational videotape which was designed by researchers for this particular study, regarding the knowledge and skills of caring for premature infants. While mothers in the control group received routine educational care. Both groups of mothers filled out the questionnaire including knowledge of prematurity, maternal confidence, perceived stress and perceived social support at three time periods (before discharge, one week after discharge, and one month after discharge). The findings indicated that mothers who received a videotape education reported having higher knowledge and confidence of caring for their preterm babies than mothers who were in the control group. Moreover, mothers in the experimental group perceived lower stress than the control group mothers when their babies were one month old. The scores of perception of stress, parity, and receiving a videotape education are the best predictors to maternal confidence a week after discharge. Further, the mothers' perception of stress, parity, and the perception of social support can predict and explain 47.1% of the variance of the maternal confidence. These results can apply to clinical practice for nursing mothers who have given preterm births. A convenient videotape education can improve mothers' knowledge and confidence of caring for their premature babies at home.