Sensitivity Training for Parents With Premature Infants

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Premature Birth

Treatments: Behavioral: Mother-Infant Transaction Program; Behavioral: Treatment as usual

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04383340

KCC/RC/G/1819-B03

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a culturally adapted version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) among Chinese mothers with premature infants in public hospitals in Hong Kong.

Full description

Potential participants at two public hospitals in Hong Kong were identified by ward nurses. Mother-infant dyads with infants born at 36 weeks or earlier were assessed for eligibility. Data collection was conducted after obtaining written consent from the mothers. Mother-infant dyads who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated to either the intervention or the treatment-as-usual control group. Each dyad was assessed at six time points, i.e., baseline, immediately after intervention/TAU, and when the infants were at the gestation-corrected ages of 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

Enrollment: 68 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Mothers with premature infants born at 36 weeks or earlier

Exclusion criteria

• insufficient spoken and written Chinese ability of the mother
• mother under 18 years of age
• triplets or higher multiples
• infants with congenital abnormalities (e.g., metabolic disorder, chromosomal disorder)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

68 participants in 2 patient groups

Mother-Infant Transaction Program

Experimental group

Description:

Four sessions were delivered to the mothers one-on-one based on a manualized protocol while the infants were still in the neonatal intensive care units. These coaching sessions included psychological care for the mother and topics on recognizing premature infant's characteristics, understanding and recognizing signs of infant stress and infant's engagement and disengagement cues, principles of graded stimulation, and how to optimize interactions and avoid over-stimulating the infant.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mother-Infant Transaction Program

Treatment as usual

Active Comparator group

Description:

For this group, infants and mothers received standard hospital care following the initial baseline assessment; these mothers were invited to ask questions about recommended ways to take care of their infants, but no specific knowledge or skills targeted by the adapted MITP program were taught

Treatment:

Behavioral: Treatment as usual