The psychological effects of preterm birth on postnatal mothers: a scoping review

TL;DR

This scoping review explores how preterm birth affects the mental health of mothers after childbirth, highlighting anxiety, depression, and stress as common psychological effects.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive synthesis of psychological effects of preterm birth on postnatal mothers using a scoping review methodology.

Findings

Anxiety was the most common psychological effect, with levels ranging from 12.3% to 83%.

Depression and stress were also prevalent, with depression levels ranging from 19.3% to 90.6%.

Risk factors included gestational age, preeclampsia, and infant behavior in the NICU.

Abstract

One of five new mothers might experience psychological effects, most of which are found in the case of preterm births. This scoping review aimed to synthesize the literature on the psychological effects of preterm birth on postpartum mothers in healthcare settings.

We conducted a scoping review in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework for scoping review. A search was conducted in PubMed (National Center for Biotechnology Information), Embase (Elsevier), and Scopus (Elsevier). The studies were screened and extracted via a predesigned data extraction form.

A total of 1477 articles were identified, 35 of which were eligible for full-text screening. Ultimately, 21 articles were included in the review. Thirteen of the 21 studies measured anxiety, eleven studies measured depressive symptoms, nine studies measured stress, and five studies each measured posttraumatic stress symptoms, postpartum depressive symptoms, and distress symptoms. The percentage of anxiety levels ranged between 12.3% and 83%, and the percentage of depression levels ranged between 19.3% and 90.6%.

The most common psychological effect was anxiety, followed by depressive symptoms and stress. Gestational age, preeclampsia, infant behavior and appearance in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) were common risk factors. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for anxiety, the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale for depression, and the Perceived Stress Scale: NICU for stress were frequently used screening tools.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12884-025-08504-0.

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