Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study

Background and Objectives. Parents who have a premature child in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are in a stressful situation. The aim of this paper is to analyze the emotional support received by parents with premature children admitted to NICUs. Methods. A phenomenological qual...

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Main Authors: Sabiniana San Rafael-Gutiérrez, Purificación Escobar García, Alicia Saelices Prellezo, Laura Rodriguez Paulí, Beatriz Longueira Del-Castillo, Rafaela Blanco Sánchez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2020-06-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
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Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/464
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author Sabiniana San Rafael-Gutiérrez
Purificación Escobar García
Alicia Saelices Prellezo
Laura Rodriguez Paulí
Beatriz Longueira Del-Castillo
Rafaela Blanco Sánchez
author_facet Sabiniana San Rafael-Gutiérrez
Purificación Escobar García
Alicia Saelices Prellezo
Laura Rodriguez Paulí
Beatriz Longueira Del-Castillo
Rafaela Blanco Sánchez
author_sort Sabiniana San Rafael-Gutiérrez
collection DOAJ
description Background and Objectives. Parents who have a premature child in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are in a stressful situation. The aim of this paper is to analyze the emotional support received by parents with premature children admitted to NICUs. Methods. A phenomenological qualitative study with an explanatory and interpretative approach was employed. Results. The findings are: 1) The experience and emotions of a premature delivery; showing sadness, guilt and despair, stress, anxiety, and uncertainty over the future of their child. 2) The emotional support received by the father/mother of the partner; discussion of how their partner is cared for, as well as the care given to the premature child and other children in the family; the stress that this causes them on not being able visit all at once. 3) The emotional support offered by the health professionals (doctors, nurses, etc.); parents indicate that they have received very strong support from the nurses, but also that they were not always asked about their feelings when in the NICU. 4) The informal emotional support of relatives and parents in the NICU. After talking with other support mothers, the mothers then felt less guilty. Conclusion. As regards premature birth, the mothers showed feelings of sadness and guilt, asked themselves where they had failed and what they had done wrong.
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spelling doaj-art-5c70ec3f65764089b6dae8be07a0afe12025-08-20T03:00:53ZengHacettepe University Institute of Child HealthThe Turkish Journal of Pediatrics0041-43012791-64212020-06-0162310.24953/turkjped.2020.03.011Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological studySabiniana San Rafael-Gutiérrez0Purificación Escobar García1Alicia Saelices Prellezo2Laura Rodriguez Paulí3Beatriz Longueira Del-Castillo4Rafaela Blanco Sánchez5Department of Nursing, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona.Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.Department of Nursing, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona. Background and Objectives. Parents who have a premature child in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are in a stressful situation. The aim of this paper is to analyze the emotional support received by parents with premature children admitted to NICUs. Methods. A phenomenological qualitative study with an explanatory and interpretative approach was employed. Results. The findings are: 1) The experience and emotions of a premature delivery; showing sadness, guilt and despair, stress, anxiety, and uncertainty over the future of their child. 2) The emotional support received by the father/mother of the partner; discussion of how their partner is cared for, as well as the care given to the premature child and other children in the family; the stress that this causes them on not being able visit all at once. 3) The emotional support offered by the health professionals (doctors, nurses, etc.); parents indicate that they have received very strong support from the nurses, but also that they were not always asked about their feelings when in the NICU. 4) The informal emotional support of relatives and parents in the NICU. After talking with other support mothers, the mothers then felt less guilty. Conclusion. As regards premature birth, the mothers showed feelings of sadness and guilt, asked themselves where they had failed and what they had done wrong. https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/464NICUemotional supportlow birth weightpremature infantqualitative research
spellingShingle Sabiniana San Rafael-Gutiérrez
Purificación Escobar García
Alicia Saelices Prellezo
Laura Rodriguez Paulí
Beatriz Longueira Del-Castillo
Rafaela Blanco Sánchez
Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study
The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
NICU
emotional support
low birth weight
premature infant
qualitative research
title Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study
title_full Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study
title_fullStr Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study
title_full_unstemmed Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study
title_short Emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a qualitative phenomenological study
title_sort emotional support for parents with premature children admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit a qualitative phenomenological study
topic NICU
emotional support
low birth weight
premature infant
qualitative research
url https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/464
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