High levels of parenting stress and trauma despite age-appropriate developmental outcomes following…

Cross-sectionalBMJ paediatrics open· Jul 2026

High levels of parenting stress and trauma despite age-appropriate developmental outcomes following perinatal asphyxia: a cross-sectional observational study.

Angela Sutterer-Verrelli, Anna Katharina Georg, Anja Riecker … Claudia Nussbaum

Child Development & BehaviourCross-sectionalClinical practiceQ1IF 2.4

88% of parents reported postnatal trauma after infant therapeutic hypothermia treatment

High levels of parenting stress and trauma despite age-appropriate developmental outcomes following perinatal asphyxia: a cross-sectional observational study.

Angela Sutterer-Verrelli … Claudia Nussbaum

BMJ paediatrics open · Jul 2026 · Q1 in Pediatrics

Purpose

To examine the association of perinatal asphyxia across mild to moderate hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy) severity levels and therapeutic hypothermia (therapeutic hypothermia) with child developmental outcomes and parenting stress and to explore parental trauma and psychosocial support.

Methods

Two university medical centres in Germany.

n = 58

Results

Almost 9 in 10 parents had birth-related trauma after infant cooling therapy, versus 15% of controls.

88%

TH group

73%

Non-TH group

15%

Controls

More results

Most children showed age-appropriate developmental outcomes across all groups.

In contrast, parents in both asphyxia groups reported elevated stress levels, with higher Parenting Stress Index scores in the therapeutic hypothermia group, particularly in the health, competence and attachment domains.

More results

Psychosocial support was perceived as sufficient by only 20% of parents in the non-therapeutic hypothermia group, compared with 39% in the therapeutic hypothermia group.

Birth-related trauma was a significant predictor of parental stress.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

Despite mostly age-appropriate development on screening, parental stress and trauma were highly prevalent regardless of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy severity, and psychosocial support was markedly insufficient, particularly for families whose infants did not receive therapeutic hypothermia.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings highlight the need for structured, accessible psychosocial support for all patient-families affected by perinatal asphyxia.

High levels of parenting stress and trauma despite age-appropriate developmental outcomes following perinatal asphyxia: a cross-sectional observational study.

High levels of parenting stress and trauma despite age-appropriate developmental outcomes following perinatal asphyxia: a cross-sectional observational study.

Related papers