Preterm Birth and Continuation of Child's Follow-Up Care After Hospital Discharge

Ayoola, Adejoke B.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013: 1:30 PM

Adejoke B. Ayoola, PhD, RN
Nursing, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
Anna Schipper, RN, BSN
Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Learning Objective 1: State the percentage of women with preterm birth and NICU admission who took their newborn for well-baby checkup within 2-6 months after NICU discharge.

Learning Objective 2: List the factors that may influence mothers’ attendance at a well-baby checkup after NICU discharge.

Purpose: The complications of preterm birth is enormous on the child such that non-use or inadequate use of recommended follow-up during the immediate first year of life could worsen the long term consequences of prematurity on the babies. This study examined the factors that influenced continued use of child’s follow-up care namely attending a well-baby checkup within 2-6 months after NICU discharge among women with preterm babies.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) multi-state data for United States from 2004-2008. The PRAMS program entails cross-sectional surveys, addressing maternal behaviors and experiences that occur before, during, and shortly after pregnancy among U.S. women of childbearing age. The analysis involved weighting of complex survey data using STATA 10.1 software. Statistical analyses involved bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses.

Results: The total sample size for this analysis was 44,310 women who had babies admitted into NICU. About 73% of these women had preterm births. From bivariate analysis, marital status, and parity had significant relationship with attendance at well baby check up (p<0.01). 58% were married, Having a preterm birth was significantly associated with lower odds of not having a well-baby check up post discharge from NICU (OR=0.31, 99% CI: 0.12-0.8), maternal age of 25-29 years was also significantly associated with higher odds of not having a well-baby check up (OR=46.3, 99% CI: 8.1-266.4),

Conclusion: Relatively young maternal age between 25 and 29 years could predispose women to inadequate maternal attendance at well baby check up post discharge from a NICU. Women within this age group may benefit from additional support.

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