Risk of psychological distress in parents of preterm children

Published on Wednesday, 23 December 2015 Post

A paper exploring the risk of psychological stress in parents of babies born preterm has been published in BMJ Open. The study, by Claire Carson, Maggie Redshaw, Ron Gray and Maria Quigley, analysed data on 12,100 families recruited into the Millennium Cohort Study, including 7% who had experienced a preterm birth. Overall, 12% of mothers and 9% of fathers showed signs of psychological distress at 9 months postpartum. These prevalences were increased in parents of very preterm infants and mothers of infants born at early term (gestation 37-38 weeks). Full details can be found on the BMJ website.