A Study on the Mothers Perception, Caring-Confidence, and Attitude towards Own Newborn Infants

어머니의 신생아에 대한 지각, 신생아 돌보기 자신감 및 양육태도

Purpose: To investigate the relationships among mother's perception of her own newborn, her caring-confidence level, and her child-rearing attitude; and to provide data for developing effective nursing education programs on maternal newborn care. Method: Explorative survey questionnaires were completed by 159 married mothers of newborns from November 2003 to March 2004. Data were analyzed using SPSS/Win 10.0 by t-test and Pearson's Correlation coefficient. Result: The mean scores of the mother's perception of her own newborn, her caring- confidence level, and her child-rearing attitude were .26, 3.13, and 3.43 respectively. There was a positive correlation between mother's perception of her own newborn and her child-rearing attitude. There was a significant correlation between mothers caring-confidence level and her child-rearing attitude. Score of caring-confidence was significantly different depending on the availability of helper and history of delivery. Conclusion: Availability of helper and history of delivery significantly affected mothers caring-confidence. This in turn, along with mothers perception of her own newborn, enhanced mothers child-rearing attitude. Thus, an effective education for mothers should include these factors.