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

Abstract

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. A phenomenological qualitative study with an explanatory and interpretative approach was employed. 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. As regards premature birth, the mothers showed feelings of sadness and guilt, asked themselves where they had failed and what they had done wrong.