How Parents Cope With the Experience of Neonatal Intensive Care

Hughes, Mary-alayne; McCollum, Jeanette A.; Sheftel, David; Sánchez, George

doi:10.1207/s15326888chc2301_1

Cited by 72 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…78.3% of this support came from those around mothers, while 51.7% came from health care workers. The next most-common strategies were solving problems gradually by planning for the LBW infant's care (55%) and making a care plan for when the infant came home (53.3%) ( This confirms the results of Hughes, McCollum, Sheftel, & Sanchez, (1994) study with the same population, where the largest proportion of maternal coping was accounted for by Seeking Social Support (24%). Also Seideman et al, (1997) study showed that the parents were found to have coped by using a problem-focused approach by seeking information about their infants' progress from the medical and nursing staff When we examined deep coping strategies that focus on emotional adjustment, the most common approach was finding positive meaning through prayer (86.7%).…”

Section: Fig 1: Maternal Stress Level On Lbw Birthsupporting

confidence: 73%

Mothers’ Coping Strategies in Preparing for the Discharge of Low Birth Weight Infants from a Perinatology Ward

2017

Aust. J. Basic & Appl. Sci.

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Background: Low birth weight infants are born weighing less than 2500 grams. The chance of life increases with the advancement of technology through intensive care in the perinatology ward. High medical needs during infant care, duration of care, and lack of knowledge about the condition of the infant are factors that causes stress on mothers to bring the infant home. Mother may feel incompetence in caring for the infant at home. Greater stress occurs among mothers who are lack of proper coping skills. Objective: This study aimed to appraise mothers' coping strategies for dealing with stress related to the discharge preparations of a low birth weight (LBW) infant. Sixty mothers of LBW infants hospitalized in a perinatology ward participated in this descriptive-correlational study. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire of the Stress and Coping Strategies Scale, and the questionnaire was tested for validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha: 0.72). Descriptive and inferential statistics, including the Pearson's correlation test, were applied to analyze the data using SPSS. Results: Most mothers (86%) used coping strategies focused on emotions, and 78% reported using ones that focus on solving problems. There was a significant correlation among the infant's length of hospitalization (p. 0.024) and history of hyperbilirubinemia (p. 0.007) with a mother's coping strategy. We also found a strong significant correlation between mothers' stress and coping strategies (r. −0.641; p. < 0.001). Conclusion: This study indicate that stress scores are significantly associated with coping strategies: the higher the score, the lower the mother's coping ability. Developing a maternal coping strategy that focuses on problem solving will increase mother's confidence in preparing for the discharge of LBW infants from perinatology ward and able to care for the baby at home. We recommend that nurses help mothers develop coping strategies with a focus on problem solving through family involvement and educational care for LBW infants.

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Section: Fig 1: Maternal Stress Level On Lbw Birthsupporting

confidence: 73%

Mothers’ Coping Strategies in Preparing for the Discharge of Low Birth Weight Infants from a Perinatology Ward

2017

Aust. J. Basic & Appl. Sci.

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“…Many studies (2,(31)(32)(33) show that mothers experience frustration when separated from their newborn infant. When separation occurs, mothers and their infants have no opportunity to experience mutual bonding and recognition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results indicate that mothers felt positive support from the staff. According to previous research (29,31), that sense of support is important in order for parents to handle the situation of having a preterm infant who needs care in a neonatal unit. When the infant's condition is stabilized, parents of a preterm infant have more time and psychological space for their own emotions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of having a prematurely born infant from the perspective of mothers in northern Sweden

Lindberg

Öhrling

2008

International Journal of Circumpolar Health

118

105

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Objectives. The aim of this study was to describe the mothers' experience of having a prematurely born infant, with the focus on the birth itself and during the time immediately following the birth. Study design. A qualitative design was chosen to achieve the aim of this study. Methods. Six mothers, whose infants were born prematurely and thereby needed care on a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), participated in the study. Narrative interviews were conducted and the mothers were encouraged to freely narrate their experiences of having an infant born preterm. A qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews. Results. The results show that mothers were not prepared for having prematurely born infants and that initially they had difficulties feeling like a mother. Having an infant born preterm was dominated by feelings of anxiety. Feeling closeness to the child was important, and separation from the child was a very stressful experience. Family life was affected, but mothers felt they were able to handle the situation if they received support from their partner and hospital staff, and if they were equipped with knowledge regarding the birth and care of a premature infant. Furthermore, it was important for the mothers to be involved in their infants' care. Conclusions. Support and knowledge made it possible for mothers to handle having a premature infant. Mothers' situations could be facilitated if nurses had increased knowledge and understanding about how mothers experience this situation.

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“…According to them, fathers experience, among others, 'immense anxiety', 'helplessness', 'fear of the unknown', and 'constraints with work' during the hospitalisation period of their child. Fathers tend to look for a 'planful problem-solving' coping strategy in the NICU (Hughes et al, 1994;Affleck et al, 1991). Furthermore, fathers experience difficulty in choosing between time spent with their child and at work (Premberg et al, 2011;Pohlman, 2005) and they tend to see their spouse's and child's needs as a higher priority than their own (Pohlman et al, 2007).…”

Section: Design Of 'For Daddy'mentioning

confidence: 99%