• Cristina Dragomir, Roxana Popescu, Elena Silvia Bernad, Marioara Boia, Daniela Iacob, Mirabela Adina Dima, Ruxandra Laza, Nicoleta Soldan, Brenda-Cristiana Bernad, Alin Eugen Semenescu, Ion Dragomir, Claudiu Elian Angelescu-Coptil, Razvan Nitu, Marius Craina, Constantin Balaceanu-Stolnici, and Cristina Adriana Dehelean.
• Doctoral School, 'Victor Babes' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eftimie Murgu Square, No. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 Oct 27; 58 (11).

AbstractBackground and objectives: The postpartum maternal physical and psychological state played a fundamental role in the mother−child relationship at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study is to analyze the influence of maternal psychological manifestations on the mother−child couple through three objectives (briefly expressed): (I) Determination of the main acute and chronic conditions of newborns/infants. (II) Verification of the hypothesis of the existence of a link between the following neonatal variables: gestational age, birth weight, number of days of hospitalization, and specific neonatal therapies (oxygen, surfactant, and blood products’ transfusion). (III) Verification of the influence of postpartum maternal psychological status on the mother−child couple through three hypotheses. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two hospitals in Timișoara, Romania, between 1 March and 1 September 2020, and included 165 mothers and their 175 newborns. Mothers answered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Spielberger’s Inventory of State-Trait Anxiety, and the Collins and Read Revised Adult Attachment Scale. Results: (I) The acute and chronic pathology of the infants in the study group was polymorphic. (II) Large correlations were identified between the following infant variables: gestational age with birth weight, and number of hospitalization days with birth weight, gestational age, and use of blood product transfusion (all p < 0.001). (III) (1) State anxiety was the only significant predictor of number of hospitalization days (p = 0.037), number of acute disorders (p = 0.028), and number of infant chronic diseases (p = 0.037). (2) Maternal depressive symptoms were the only predictor of postpartum maternal attachment (p = 0.018). (3) Depressive symptoms, state, and trait anxiety were non-significant in all models studied (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: Postpartum maternal physical and psychological state plays a fundamental role on the mother−child relationship in the new social and complex family conditions.

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