Quality of Life of Mothers and Fathers 4 to 6 Months After Birth: The Effect of a Very Preterm Delivery

Objectives The sparse literature on the effect of a preterm delivery on parents’ quality of life (QoL) yields inconsistent results, restricting their analysis to mothers. The present study aimed to assess the effect of a very preterm delivery on parents’ gender-specific perception of QoL, 4 to 6 months after birth. Methods A total of 117 parents of very preterm infants hospitalized at birth in a level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and 214 parents of never hospitalized full-term infants born in a public maternity, both located in the North of Portugal, participated in the study, 4 to 6 months after delivery (November 2013–June 2015). The Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life – BREF Inventory was applied and scores were transformed to reflect a 0 to 100 scale. Results The mean [standard deviation (SD)] of overall QoL ranged between 72.1 (13.3) among mothers of full-term infants and 74.6 (12.5) among mothers of very preterm infants. The perception of QoL was not significantly different among parents of very preterm and full-term infants, according to gender. The highest scores were observed in the psychological and physical dimensions, for both mothers and fathers. Conclusions for Practice The lack of differences on the perception of QoL among mothers and fathers of very preterm and full-term infants, highlights the need to deeply understand and explore the influence of accommodation mechanisms, the extended family/community and health policies on parental QoL trajectories.