THE PSYCHOAFFECTIVE EXPERIENCE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT OF PARENTS OF PREMATURE NEWBORNS IN 267 CASES

Abstract

Prematurity is a birth that occurs before the term of the pregnancy. It is a public health priority. Despite improvements in its management in recent years, prematurity remains a very worrying problem. The parental experience of premature birth can be traumatic, impacting on the quality of the parent-child relationship and requiring social support. The aim of this study is to apprehend the psycho-affective experience of parents of premature newborns and their relationships with the newborn, and with professionals using the eco-systemic approach. This is a prospective, descriptive and analytical study of 267 cases of premature newborns hospitalized in the neonatology department of Tangier University Hospital over a 12-month period from February 01, 2023 to January 31, 2024. Our study reflected the ambivalence of the parents, who oscillated between a feeling of happiness in 58 cases of the mothers (21.7%) versus 52 cases of the fathers (19.4%) for the child they were expecting, and a feeling of anxiety in 89 cases of the mothers (33, 3%) versus 82 cases of the fathers (30, 7%), as well as narcissistic wounding in 29 cases (10.8%), and guilt in 28 cases (10.4%) are more evoked in the mothers discourse compared to responsibility in 77 cases (28.8%) and unreality in 25 cases (9.3%) predominant in the fathers words. The most important source of social support, apart from the family in 214 cases (80%), was the nursing team in 33 cases (12.4%) and other relatives on the ward in 20 cases (7.4%).