Stress and coping in Japanese mothers whose infants required congenital heart disease surgery

Background With the growing number of severe congenital heart disease (CHD) surgeries, some hospitals in Japan are experiencing difficulty meeting the demand for CHD surgery. As a result, CHD surgery preparation is difficult for mothers of these infants. Aims To examine the stress and coping of mothers whose infants needed CHD surgery and to identify the factors that influenced maternal coping. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 mothers whose infants had undergone CHD surgery. Qualitative analyses of transcribed interviews were performed. Results The coping of mothers for surgery began when mothers received news of their infant's CHD diagnosis. Maternal stress appraisal and coping changed as surgery approached. In particular, maternal coping was influenced by diagnosis event, symptoms of their child, anticipated number of surgeries, presence of chromosomal abnormality, and infant age. Conclusion The stressors and coping challenges of mothers whose infants needed CHD surgery changed as the surgery date approached, and these were influenced by 5 factors.