A Study to Assess the Maternal Fatigue and Its Associated Factors among Postnatal Mothers Visiting Pediatric OPD of Tertiary Care Hospital Ludhiana, Punjab

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the maternal fatigue and its associated factors among 201 postnatal mothers visiting pediatric OPD of tertiary care hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, selected by purposive sampling technique. A non-experimental exploratory research design was used. Maternal fatigue was assessed by using modified fatigue continuum form developed by Linda C. Pugh (1999) and structured checklist to assess its associated factors among postnatal mothers. Data was organized and scrutinized by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the study revealed that 66% of the mothers had mild fatigue, followed by 31% of postnatal mothers had moderate level of fatigue and only 3% of postnatal mothers had severe fatigue in their postpartum period. Mean fatigue score was found to be 66.97±1.77 among postnatal mothers. Factors like frequent awakening at night for feed, frequent changing of diaper, lack of sleep at night and observation of child’s activity while working were found to be the most common associated factors of maternal fatigue among postnatal mothers. Maternal fatigue was higher in the 0–2 months of postpartum period. Parity, number of live births and type of family were significantly associated with mean maternal fatigue as p<0.05