PURPOSE
To investigate the relationships among mother's perception of her own newborn, her caring-confidence level, and her child-rearing attitude; and to provide data for developing effective nursing education programs on maternal newborn care.
METHOD
Explorative survey questionnaires were completed by 159 married mothers of newborns from November 2003 to March 2004. Data were analyzed using SPSS/Win 10.0 by t-test and Pearson's Correlation coefficient.
RESULTS
The mean scores of the mother's perception of her own newborn, her caring-confidence level, and her child-rearing attitude were .26, 3.13, and 3.43 respectively. There was a positive correlation between mother's perception of her own newborn and her child-rearing attitude. There was a significant correlation between mothers caring-confidence level and her child-rearing attitude. Score of caring-confidence was significantly different depending on the availability of helper and history of delivery.
CONCLUSION
Availability of helper and history of delivery significantly affected mothers caring-confidence. This in turn, along with mothers perception of her own newborn, enhanced mothers child-rearing attitude. Thus, an effective education for mothers should include these factors.