MATERNAL STRESS IN NICU DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, measures have been taken to reduce the number of contacts between people, restrict visits to medical facilities and patients. These restrictions also affected one of the most vulnerable populations - mothers whose newborns were treated in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Infant’s admission in the NICU is a disturbing and potentially traumatic event for mothers, as it limits the round-the-clock stay with their children, accompanied by anxiety and worries about the health of the newborn and its further prognosis, makes it impossible to fully fulfill the parental role and independent care for a baby, disrupts the establishmentof psychological and physical contact between a mother and a child, which is superimposed on the labile psycho-emotional state of the woman in labor caused by the restructuring of hormonal status.The aim of the study was to assess the stress level of mothers whose infants needed treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit(NICU) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, to analyze the impact of quarantine restrictions on the frequency and duration ofmother-child visits, as well as on breastfeeding.Materials and methods. The design included 194 mothers: 67 - mothers whose children were in the NICU before the COVID-19 pandemic and 127 - during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress sensitivity was assessed using the «Parental Stress Scale: NICU» (PSS:NICU). The study included the results of the survey of mothers whose infants were in the intensive care unit for at least 3 days. Statistical data processing was carried out using the program "STATISTICA 13.0. WINDOWS" with the calculation of mean scores (M). The data were considered reliable at p<0.05. The t-test (for two independent groups) wаs used to compare numerical data (PSS: NICU scores).The research complies with the bioethical norms of clinical research in accordance with the provisions of the GSR (1996), the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (from 04.04.1997), the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association on the Ethical Principles of Scientific Medical Research with Human Participation (1964 -2013), orders of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 690 dated September 23, 2009. The research got the permission of the bioethical commission of the Ternopil National Medical University named after I.Ya. Gorbachevskii.Results of the study and their discussion. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of mothers who visited their newbornsin the NICU by 3 or more times a day decreased (56.69%), while before the pandemic this index was 64.18% (p before and during COVID-19 < 0.05). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the average duration of the mother-newborn visits at the NICU also significantly decreased, only 10.24% of mothers stayed more than 1 hour during the visit with the baby, while this indicator was 89.76% beforethe pandemic (p before and during COVID-19 < 0.05). The highest level of stress in mothers was associated with the "Parental role alteration" subscale and was 4.15 points during the COVID-19 pandemic and 4.04 points before the pandemic (p before and duringCOVID-19 < 0.05). During the pandemic, the number of children receiving breast milk decreased by 16.52% (p before and duringCOVID-19 < 0.05).Conclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful stress factor for mothers of newborns in NICUs, as it limits contact with the child, enhances stress due to impaired parental role and has a negative impact on breastfeeding.