Abstract:
(1) Background. The birth of an infant at 23 to 24 weeks poses a significant challenge to healthy parent-infant bonding because of the high risk of infant loss and the prolonged separation. The aim of this study was to retrospectively explore the narratives of parents with children born at 23-24 weeks about their bonding formation and relational experiences. (2) Methods. This was a qualitative descriptive study conducted with Finnish parents of children born at 23 or 24 weeks of gestation. Twenty-nine mothers and eight fathers were retrospectively interviewed using a semi-structured interview about the bonding process with their infant during the period in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and their later parent-child relationship. Parents\' narratives were deductively analysed according to a framework previously developed for studying parental bonding. (3) Results. Our results showed that several parents described the bonding process as natural or even easy despite the traumatic start to parenthood. Support from NICU staff and providing opportunities for participation in infant care and parent-infant physical closeness were reported to enhance the bonding process. Our study identified earlier parenting experience as a new element supporting bonding. (4) Conclusions. According to our results, essential elements enhancing parent-infant bonding in NICU settings seem to be supporting parents psychologically, promoting parent-infant closeness, and encouraging parental participation in the infants\' care, even with the most immature infants.
摘要:
(1)背景。婴儿在23至24周时的出生对健康的父母与婴儿的结合构成了重大挑战,因为婴儿损失的风险很高,而且分离时间延长。这项研究的目的是回顾性地探讨父母在23-24周时出生的孩子的关系形成和关系经历的叙述。(2)方法。这是对怀孕23或24周出生的孩子的芬兰父母进行的定性描述性研究。使用半结构化访谈对29位母亲和8位父亲进行了回顾性访谈,内容涉及在新生儿重症监护病房(NICU)期间与婴儿的联系过程以及他们后来的亲子关系。根据先前为研究父母关系而开发的框架,对父母的叙述进行了演绎分析。(3)结果。我们的结果表明,尽管父母开始遭受创伤,但一些父母将结合过程描述为自然甚至容易。据报道,来自NICU工作人员的支持以及提供参与婴儿护理和父母与婴儿身体亲密的机会,以增强结合过程。我们的研究将早期的育儿经验确定为支持联系的新元素。(4)结论。根据我们的结果,在NICU环境中增强父母与婴儿之间的联系的基本要素似乎在心理上支持父母,促进父母与婴儿的亲密关系,并鼓励父母参与婴儿护理,即使是最不成熟的婴儿。