[[alternative]]A comparative study between mothers who got pregnant after assisted reproductive treatment and mothers who conceived naturally in taking care of their premature babies in terms of difficulties, social support, and marriage satisfaction.

[[abstract]]本研究以接受接受生殖科技與自然妊娠之母親為主要研究對象，比較兩組在早產兒出院返家一年內的照顧困難、社會支持及婚姻滿意度的差異。研究樣本由早產兒基金會居家照護小組提供。以量性比較性之研究設計，採用郵寄問卷方式進行資料的收集，共計發出672份問卷，回收有效問卷407份。測量工具包括「照顧困難程度量表」、「早產兒母親社會支持量表」、「婚姻滿意度量表」。除比較接受接受生殖科技與自然妊娠早產兒母親外，進一步比較接受生殖科技妊娠多胞胎與單胞胎，及自然妊娠多胞胎與單胞胎之早產兒母親在照顧困難、社會支持及婚姻滿意度方面的差異性。 研究結果顯示接受接受生殖科技妊娠之母親的社會支持與婚姻滿意度高於自然妊娠，照顧困難的程度低於自然妊娠。接受接受生殖科技多胞胎妊娠之母親的社會支持與婚姻滿意度高於單胞胎妊娠，照顧困難的程度低於單胞胎妊娠。自然妊娠多胞胎母親照顧困難、社會支持與婚姻滿意度皆比單胞胎妊娠高。 早產兒出生前母親的婚姻滿意度與早產兒出生後的婚姻滿意度呈顯著正相關。照顧困難與婚姻滿意度呈負相關，社會支持與婚姻滿意度呈正相關。基本人口學特性、照顧困難、社會支持、早產兒出生前母親的婚姻狀況可解釋早產兒母親婚姻滿意度79%以上的變異量。研究結果提供護理實務、在職教育及未來相關研究的參考。[[abstract]]Abstract The purpose of this study is to compare the differences between mothers who got pregnant after assisted reproductive treatment and mothers who conceived naturally in taking care of their premature babies in their first year after giving birth in terms of difficulties, social support, and marriage satisfaction. This is a quantitative comparative study. The survey instruments included “Difficulties Scale in Taking Care of Premature Babies”, “Social Support Scale”, and “Marriage Satisfaction Scale”, which were sent to the subjects offered by the Foundation for Premature Infants of the Republic of China to collect data. Six hundred and seventy two questionnaires were mailed, and four hundred and seven questionnaires were returned. In addition, this study also compared the differences between mothers who got single or multiple pregnant after assisted reproductive treatment and mothers who got single or multiple pregnant and conceived naturally in taking care of their premature babies in terms of difficulties, social support and marriage satisfaction. The results of this study are as the followings. In terms of social support and marriage satisfaction, the mean scores of mothers who got pregnant after assisted reproductive treatment are higher than those of mothers who conceived naturally. In terms of difficulties in taking care of premature babies, the mean scores of mothers who got pregnant after assisted reproductive treatment are lower than those of mothers who conceived naturally. In the group of mothers who got pregnant after assisted reproductive treatment, in terms of social support and marriage satisfaction the mean scores of mothers who got multiple pregnant are higher than those of mothers who got single pregnant. In terms of the difficulties in taking care of premature babies, the mean scores of mothers who got multiple pregnant are lower than those of mothers who got single pregnant. In the group of mothers who conceived naturally, in terms of difficulties, social support, and marriage satisfaction, the mean scores of mothers who got multiple pregnant are higher than those of mothers who got single pregnant. Mothers’ satisfaction with their marriage before giving birth to premature babies and mothers’ satisfaction with their marriage after giving birth to premature babies was positively correlated. Difficulties in taking care of premature babies were negatively correlated with mothers’ satisfaction with their marriage whereas social support was positively correlated with mothers’ satisfaction with their marriage. The basic characteristics of demography, difficulties in taking care of premature babies, social support, and mothers’ satisfaction with their own marriage before giving birth to premature babies are able to explain 79% variance