Experiences, mental well-being and community-based care needs of fathers of late preterm infants: A mixed-methods pilot study.

Shahirose Sadrudin Premji,Genevieve Currie,Lynnette May Oliver,Aliyah Dosani,Marc Hall,Sandra Reilly,Tyler Williamson,Abhay K Lodha,Marilyn Young

doi:10.1002/nop2.370

Abstract

AimsWe explore fathers' experience of caring for a late preterm infant including their stressors, needs and corresponding interventions proffered by public health nurses.DesignPilot mixed‐methods exploratory sequential design.MethodsWe collected (a) qualitative data from semi‐structured interviews (N = 5) and (b) quantitative data (N = 31) about fathers' levels of stress (Parenting Stress Index), anxiety (Speilberger State–Trait Anxiety) and depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) at 6–8 weeks after birth of their infant.ResultsFathers appreciated their infant was born ‘early’, however, discovered through experience the demands of their infant, which appeared as stress (child and parent domains) and anxiety. Themes: hypervigilance in care explained the fathers' sense of competency and role restriction; infant fatigue and parental feeding elucidated the stressful aspect of father–infant interaction. Unscientific advice from healthcare providers was confusing and frustrating while uncertainty of rehospitalization caused worries, fears or stress. One father experienced depressive symptoms.

Highlights

In Canada, Alberta has the highest provincial rate of in‐hospital preterm birth (8.3% by hospital reporting) (Canadian Institute of Health Informatics, 2013) and largest proportion of early maternal discharge from hospital following delivery, both vaginal and caesar‐ ean (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2008)
Aims: We explore fathers' experience of caring for a late preterm infant including their stressors, needs and corresponding interventions proffered by public health nurses
The hospital system apparently leaves fathers of Late preterm infants (LPIs) un‐ prepared to participate in their care

Summary

Introduction

In Canada, Alberta has the highest provincial rate of in‐hospital preterm birth (8.3% by hospital reporting) (Canadian Institute of Health Informatics, 2013) and largest proportion of early maternal discharge from hospital following delivery, both vaginal and caesar‐ ean (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2008). Compared with full‐term infants, they present with (a) greater morbidities at birth (MacBird et al, 2010), (b) greater neonatal and infant mortality (Khashu, Narayanan, Bhargava, & Osiovich, 2009) and (c) higher hospital re‐ admission rates especially in the first week of life (McLaurin, Hall, Jackson, Owens, & Mahadevia, 2009). Public health nurses (PHNs) in Alberta support LPIs and their families following discharge from the birth hospital. Parents demon‐ strate an increased risk of postpartum depression (PPD) at 3 months (corrected age) compared with parents of full‐term infants, regard‐ less of the severity of their infants' illnesses (Mehler et al, 2014)

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