MATERNAL FATIGUE DURING THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD.
Contributors: University of Maryland at Baltimore.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 356
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine which aspects of new mothers' lives predict postpartum fatigue; to describe postpartum fatigue over time; and to synthesize a beginning model of postpartum fatigue. In order to describe postpartum fatigue over time, the study was longitudinal with data collection from mothers immediately postpartum, at six weeks postpartum, and at three months postpartum.

In this study, fatigue experienced during the first three postpartum months was described and characterized and predictors of fatigue were explored. The sample consisted of 259 normal new mothers extracted from the sample of a larger project, Predictors of Maternal Behavior and Infant Development (Dr. Peggy Parks, principal investigator, and Dr. Elizabeth Lenz, co-principal investigator). Quota sampling was used to ensure a mix of socioeconomic statuses.

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis, controlling for maternal depressive symptomatology, was conducted to determine the best predictors of postpartum fatigue; and to determine whether social support would interact with significant predictors to buffer postpartum fatigue. Four significant predictors of postpartum fatigue were identified: infant difficulty and type of infant feeding at six weeks postpartum, and socioeconomic status and infant difficulty at three months postpartum. At six weeks postpartum, one buffer of postpartum fatigue was found. Social support buffered the effects of infant feeding on postpartum fatigue in bottle feeding mothers.

Repeated measures ANCOVA was conducted to determine how postpartum fatigue changed over time. Fatigue, controlling for maternal depressive symptomatology, changed significantly between measurement periods, with the highest fatigue levels occurring at six weeks postpartum.

Using open-ended questions, characteristics of postpartum fatigue were identified from a convenience sample of 44 mothers. Content analysis of mothers' answers identified characteristics and causes of postpartum fatigue from new mothers' perspectives.

In order to draw together the findings of this study, a model of postpartum fatigue was developed. The model included predictors of postpartum fatigue, timing of postpartum fatigue, and characteristics of postpartum fatigue.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-07, Section: B, page: 2847.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT BALTIMORE, 1989.

School code: 0373.