Attachment Bonding and Neonatal Hospitalization: the Impact of Hospitalization in a Kangaroo Unit (UKLA)

The Kangaroo Unit (UK) takes care of newborns requiring special care or monitoring for a pathology whose clinical situation is stable and whose prognosis is favorable. In order to avoid separating mother and child, these units were created with a care pathway somewhere between that requiring hospitalization in a neonatal unit and that of pathology-free newborns in post-natal care. Theoretically, the mother-child bond created in the UK is as good as that created in conventional post-natal care. However, studies show that there are limits to the quality of the bond in the UK. This study aims to assess whether the mother-child bond is degraded in the UK, in comparison with that of mothers in post-natal care.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Postnatal Care
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mother-child bond

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 34

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Metz, France, 57085
    • CHR Metz-Thionville/Hopital Mercy

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

patient hospitalized in a Kangaroo Unit or in a post-natal unit

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient over 18 years of age, hospitalized in a Kangaroo Unit or in a post-natal unit,
• Affiliated to a social security scheme,
• fluent in French
• no objection of participation

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patient who :

  • given birth to a child who was stillborn or died at birth
  • difficulty understanding written French
  • psychological incapacity (psychiatric disorder, too great a vulnerability) or physical incapacity (physical/motor disability) to answer questionnaires,
• Patient under court protection, guardianship or curatorship.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
kangaroo unit	Behavioral: Mother-child bond; assessing whether the mother-child bond is degraded in the UK, in comparison with that of mothers in post-natal care
postnatal care	Behavioral: Mother-child bond; assessing whether the mother-child bond is degraded in the UK, in comparison with that of mothers in post-natal care

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mother-infant bonding	Mother-infant bonding score from Taylor's Mother to Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS)	Up to 3 days after delivery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assessment of mothers' state and trait anxiety levels	using Spielberger's STAY form Y1 and Y2: a self-reported questionnaire with 20 items assessed on a 4 points scale	Up to 3 days after delivery
Assessment of perceived parenting competence	using Gibaud-Wallston's Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC). The PSOC is a 17 item scale, with 2 subscales. Each item is rated on a 6 point Likert scale anchored by 1 = "Strongly Disagree" and 6 = "Strongly Agree".	Up to 3 days after delivery
Assessment of patients' quality of life	using the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL). consists of 14 items divided into four domains: The Single-Item Scale (SIS), physical symptoms (three items), feelings and thoughts (seven items), and social (three items).	Up to 3 days after delivery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Régional Metz-Thionville
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marie-Laure BOYE, CHR Metz Thionville

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 10, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 29, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): February 6, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 20, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2023-08Obs-CHRMT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No