The aim of this study was to evaluate maternal stress and anxiety and the quality of interaction of 10 mothers and their 0-3-month-old babies with Pierre Robin Sequence hospitalized in a university hospital. We used the Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults to evaluate stress and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to assess anxiety of the mothers, and a protocol to assess the recording of the mother-infant interaction. The results showed high levels of maternal stress and anxiety. A statistically significant inverse relationship was found: the higher the maternal anxiety and stress, the lower was the mother-infant interaction. The results indicate that work needs to be done to minimize the anxiety and stress of mothers with inpatient babies in order to encourage interaction.
Anxiety; Stress; Mother-child relations