Maternal Support Measures Support for the High Risk Pregnant Women on Bed Rest by Amy Shipley, RN, BSN, NNP Student Lori Baas Rubarth, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC Problem Preterm birth is a leading cause of neonatal death in the United States. Bed rest has been a mainstay of treatment to prevent preterm birth. Bed rest can have physiologic, behavioral, social, economic and emotional impact on families causing undue stress due to fear of the unknown and uncertainty about the health of both the mother and her infant. High stress levels may cause women to deliver prematurely leading to an increase in premature births and low birth weight infants. Results Methodology Sample: n = 10 High Risk Mothers who had been on Bed Rest either at home or in the antepartum unit Design: Exploratory and Descriptive Survey Tool : Post Delivery Maternal Support Survey Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics Stress of Bedrest Average Score (1 to 5) How stressful was your hospital stay? 3.5 How stressful was your overall bed rest experience? 3.4 Maternal Support Measures ONLINE Support Group (Chat Room) 3.9 NICU Education Website Access 4.5 ONLINE Journal or Blogging of your feelings and experiences NICU Tour Prior to Delivery (50% toured) 4.4 How many NICU Nurse or Neonatologist visits did you receive? 1 visit Purpose To describe the amount of perceived stress of high risk pregnant women on bed rest To describe support methods that would benefit the pregnant women on bedrest Demographics of Participants Gestational Age at Delivery = 28 to 34 weeks All mothers had infants admitted to the NICU Out of the 10 participants 8 of the 10 delivered twins Infants had a LOS from 3 weeks to 15 weeks Literature Review Many studies have been conducted on the effect of hospitalization or restricted activity on high risk pregnant women (Grote & Bledsoe, 2007; Maloni, 2010). Increased stress while on bed rest may result in a higher number of premature birth and therefore, low birth weight infants (Mercer et al., 2006). Fear of the unknown and uncertainty can cause stress for any high risk pregnant woman (Thorman & McLean, 2006). Decreasing the stress of those on prenatal bed rest could lead to better health and outcomes (Orr et al., 2007; Richter et al., 2007). Discussion Though a small sample size, results from parent comments was very enlightening Tours of the NICU were the highest rated intervention on the final survey; therefore, it would be beneficial for all high risks moms to receive a tour prior to delivery. Comments received from participants included: Tours of the NICU prior to delivery are extremely important More education on what to expect once the infant is admitted to the NICU Better communication with parents once infant is born from NICU team (Doctors, NNPs, Nurses)