Combined Mother and Baby Care: Does it Meet the Needs of Families?

Abstract

Combined mother/baby care is thought to be an effective way to prepare a family for the changing roles and added responsibilities that the arrival of a new baby entails, but few studies have evaluated this care delivery system. Therefore, the postpartum staff at Sudbury General Hospital conducted a post-test control group study design with a self-selected sample of postpartum mothers when the unit was changing from traditional to combined mother/baby care. One hundred and three mothers who received traditional care and 102 who had combined mother/ baby care completed a questionnaire to assess perceptions of their own competence and satisfaction with the type of care administered. There were no significant differences between the two study groups. Factors that may have confounded the results include: insufficient time between institution of the program and its evaluation, and the quality of prenatal education received. Multiparous mothers scored higher on self care, infant care, and maternal competence than did primiparous mothers regardless of the care delivery system. Maternal concerns related to immediate needs. Future research should take the differences between primiparas and multiparas into account, and focus on the less immediate needs of mothers.