Background: 

Parental decisions regarding infant sleep practices vary widely, resulting in a lack of adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations (SSR) and consequently an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Preterm infants are among those at a highest risk for SIDS, yet few studies focus on parental decision-making surrounding sleep practices for preterm infants.

Purpose: 

The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing decisions concerning infant sleep practices of mothers of preterm infants.

Methods: 

This study used a mixed-methods design. Recruitment was through social media messaging by 2 parent support organizations. An online survey was used to assess factors influencing mothers' decisions regarding sleep practices for preterm infants.

Findings/Results: 

Survey participants (n = 98) were from across the United States. Mothers of preterm infants (mean gestational age at birth = 29.42 weeks) most often reported positioning infants on their back to sleep (92.3%) and a low (15.4%) use of a pacifier at sleep time. Three themes emerged for the decisions made: adherence to SSR; nonadherence to SSR; and infant-guided decisions. Regardless of the decision, mothers indicated that anxiety over the infant's well-being resulted in a need for sleep practices that facilitated close monitoring of the infant.

Implications for Practice and Research: 

The findings of this study indicate the need for understanding the underlying anxiety preventing mothers from adhering to SSR despite knowing them, along with tailoring infant sleep messaging and education to improve safety of sleep practices for preterm infants. Research is needed to examine decision making in more diverse populations.

中文翻译：

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母亲对早产儿安全睡眠的决策：影响因素有哪些？

背景： 

父母关于婴儿睡眠习惯的决定差异很大，导致缺乏对美国儿科学会安全睡眠建议 (SSR) 的遵守，从而增加婴儿猝死综合症 (SIDS) 的风险。早产儿是 SIDS 风险最高的婴儿之一，但很少有研究关注父母对早产儿睡眠习惯的决策。

目的： 

本研究的目的是确定影响早产儿母亲有关婴儿睡眠习惯的决定的因素。

方法： 

本研究采用混合方法设计。招募是通过 2 个家长支持组织的社交媒体消息进行的。一项在线调查用于评估影响母亲对早产儿睡眠习惯的决定的因素。

发现/结果： 

调查参与者 (n = 98) 来自美国各地。早产儿（出生时平均胎龄 = 29.42 周）的母亲最常报告让婴儿仰卧睡觉 (92.3%)，并且很少 (15.4%) 在睡眠时使用安抚奶嘴。做出的决定出现了三个主题：遵守 SSR；不遵守 SSR；和婴儿引导的决定。不管决定如何，母亲们表示，对婴儿健康的焦虑导致需要进行有助于密切监测婴儿的睡眠习惯。

对实践和研究的启示： 

这项研究的结果表明，需要了解阻止母亲在知道 SSR 的情况下坚持 SSR 的潜在焦虑，以及调整婴儿睡眠信息和教育以提高早产儿睡眠实践的安全性。需要研究来检查更多不同人群的决策。