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Maternal Sleepiness and Risk of Infant Drops in the Postpartum Period.
- Source :
-
Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety [Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf] 2019 May; Vol. 45 (5), pp. 337-347. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 May 15. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Background: An increase in infant drops on a postpartum unit prompted a quality improvement project to examine causes and formulate risk reduction strategies. Review of health records revealed that infant drops occurred more frequently when mothers fell asleep holding infants.<br />Methods: A prospective descriptive study was conducted with a convenience sample of 101 postpartum mother-infant dyads. Hourly assessments of maternal sleepiness using the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) and surveillance of patient rooms were performed during hospitalizations (N = 4,550 observations).<br />Results: Mothers slept on average 3.7 hours/day (median = 5.0). Sleepiness followed an expected nighttime routine on postpartum day 1 regardless of when mothers arrived on the unit. Peak sleepiness was observed at 04:00 (mean SSS score = 5.3; standard deviation [SD] = 2.6), and mothers were most awake until 18:00 (mean SSS score = 1.9; SD = 1.7). No infant drops occurred during the project; however, 50 participants required at least one intervention or corrective action to address unsafe sleep. Of 1,718 observations of mothers in bed with their infant, there were 35 instances (2.0%) where nurses observed mothers asleep holding their infant.<br />Conclusion: Frequent observations of maternal sleepiness and infant environments may prevent infant drops and provide opportunities for intervening with risk reduction strategies, including education on safe sleep for infants.<br /> (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1938-131X
- Volume :
- 45
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 31103475
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2018.12.001