Effect of counseling with empowerment approach on stress and self-esteem of mothers with premature neonates: a randomized clinical trial

To assess the effect of counseling with empowerment approach on stress and self-esteem of mothers with premature neonates

This is a randomized clinical trial, in which 80 eligible mothers will be randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups

The eligible mothers with premature neonates referring to the Fatemieh Hospital in Hamadan city during the study period will be enrolled in the trial and will be randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups through the block randomization.

Inclusion criteria: Age of 18 to 40 years, Stability of the hemodynamic status of the neonate, Singleton, First pregnancy, Wanted pregnancy, Low self-esteem (score less than 30 using the Rosenberg scale), Having stress (score above 46 using the Parental Stress Scale), Living together with her husband, Literate, Persian language, A resident of Hamadan city, Exclusion criteria: Mental disorder

Intervention group: Routine treatment and care for neonates plus counseling with empowerment approach to the mother in 4 sessions, 2 sessions per week, face to face, including how to care for the baby, the baby's needs, the continuous positive communication between mother and baby, the baby's moods and behaviors, emotional communication with the baby, stress reduction methods between mother and baby, and age-appropriate games Control group: Routine treatment and care for neonates

Stress, self-esteem

The patients will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups using block randomization. For this purpose, we will prepare four sheets of paper, writing on two sheets the name of the intervention and on the other two sheets the name of the control. The paper sheets will be pooled, placed in a container, and randomly drawn one at a time for each patient without replacement until all four sheets are drawn. The four paper sheets will be then placed back into the container, and this action repeated until the sample size is reached.