Relationship between maternal self-efficacy and functional status four months after delivery in Iranian primiparous women

Abstract

Introduction: Postpartum women experience changes in their physiological and psychological functions as they adapt to their parenting role. The objective of this study was to examine the association between maternal self-efficacy and functional status in postpartum period.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 305 Iranian women were selected randomly via a two-stage cluster sampling method at the end of the fourth month postpartum in 25 healthcare centers of Tabriz-Iran, 2016. Data were collected using the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, self-efficacy scale and inventory of functional status after childbirth. The statistical tests including Pearson correlation, Independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and General linear model were used for data analysis.

Results: A significant positive relationship was observed between functional status and self-efficacy (p < 0.001, r = 0.359). According to the adjusted general linear model, self-efficacy, mother’s age, income status and planned pregnancy have statistically significant relationships with functional status and explain 33.5% of the variance in the functional status score.

Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that increased postpartum maternal self-efficacy is associated with improved functional status, which requires health providers to evaluate postpartum maternal self-efficacy and make the necessary interventions if it is low.

Keywords:

• Pregnancy
• postpartum period
• functional status
• self-efficacy
• women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Current knowledge on the subject

• Of all of the social roles that women assume in their lifetime, motherhood is one of the most significant one.

• Postpartum women experience physiological and psychological functional changes as they adapt to their parenting role.

• Postpartum recovery is often focused primarily on resumption of physical abilities including the healing of the reproductive tract, whereas the complete functioning ability after delivery is often overlooked.

What this study adds

• Self-efficacy is positively related to women’s functional status in the postpartum period.

• Functional status is enhanced with the increase in self-efficacy in new mothers.

• Some sociodemographic components, including mother’s age, income status and planned pregnancy were associated with the functional status.