Subjective representation of newborn illness by women in the early postpartum period

Context and relevance. A mother’s timely understanding of her newborn’s illness influences the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation measures. However, there is currently no scientifically substantiated, meaningful description of the phenomenon of “subjective representation of illness in the newborn” (SRNI) by the mother in the early postpartum period. Objective: to identify possible relationships between the mother’s maladaptive emotional state, the level of understanding of the disease, and the woman’s personal involvement in the situation of giving birth to a child with the disease. Methods and materials. The study included women who gave birth to healthy children (n = 32) and children with the disease (n = 100). The main group was matched according to the criterion “level of threat to the child’s vital functions”. The following methods were used: clinical interview method; Semantic differential of life situation (O.V. Aleksandrova, I.B. Dermanova); Clinical questionnaire of neurotic states (K.K. Yakhin, D.M. Mendelevich); methods of statistical processing of empirical data: Mann–Whitney U-test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, factor analysis. Results. The phenomenon of subjective representation of illness in newborns has been described for the first time. Stages of its development and specific determination of its emotional, cognitive, and conative components have been described. Relationships between the level of understanding, emotional experience, personal involvement in the situation of giving birth to a child with an illness and maladaptive emotional status of the woman have been established. Conclusions. A differentiated individual approach to medical and psychological support for a women should take into account not only time of diagnosis of the child, but also stages of formation of the subjective representation of the newborn’s illness in mother, as well as the characteristics of her psychosomatic status.

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