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Establishment of the Relationship Between Fathers and Premature Infants in Neonatal Units
Marie-Josée Martel1, Isabelle Milette, Linda Bell
1Département des sciences infirmières, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada (Dr Martel); Pediatrics Department, CHU Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital Center and University of Montreal Medical Faculty, Montréal, Québec, Canada (Dr Payot); Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, CHU Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada (Ms Milette); and Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, École des sciences infirmières, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada (Drs Bell and Tribble).
Insights
Fathers build relationships with premature infants in the neonatal unit (NNU) through commitment and involvement, which influence attachment and communication. This understanding aids neonatal nurses in supporting paternal bonding.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Paternal-infant bonding
- Developmental psychology
Background:
- Preterm infants (born 32-37 weeks gestation) and their parents are often underserved in healthcare.
- Limited research exists on father-infant relationships in the neonatal unit (NNU).
- The father-infant relationship is crucial for infant social development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To qualitatively explore the establishment of the father-premature infant relationship within the NNU.
- To understand the early paternal experience with infants born between 32-37 weeks gestation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Bell's parent-infant relationship model (discovery, proximity, communication, involvement, attachment).
- Conducted 2 semistructured interviews with 10 fathers of premature infants (32-37 weeks gestation).
- Interviews included individual and bedside sessions during the first week postpartum.
Main Results:
- Confirmed the emergence of relationship components between fathers and preterm infants early in NNU hospitalization.
- Found paternal commitment to be foundational for developing other relationship aspects.
- Demonstrated that father's involvement significantly influences emotional attachment, discovery, proximity, and communication.
Conclusions:
- The 5-component model aids neonatal nurses in understanding and supporting the father-infant relationship.
- Highlights the need for individualized nursing interventions to support fathers' unique experiences.
- Emphasizes the necessity for further research into early paternal experiences in neonatology.
Background:
Parents and their preterm infants (born between 32-37 weeks of gestation) are often overlooked by the healthcare system. And very little attention is given to the relationship parents develop with their infants in the neonatal unit (NNU). Specifically, very few studies focused on fathers and how they establish a relationship with their infants. However, we know that the father-infant relationship is extremely important for their future social development and more.
Purpose:
This article presents the results of a qualitative study of the establishment of the father-premature infant relationship in an NNU.
Methods/Search Strategy:
The study's theoretical framework was Bell's model of the parent-infant relationship, which encompasses discovery, physical proximity, communication, involvement, and emotional attachment. Ten fathers of premature infants (gestational age: 32-37 weeks) participated in 2 semistructured interviews (1 individual and 1 "in situ," ie, at the infant's bedside) during the first week following the premature birth.
Findings/Results:
The results confirm the emergence of different components of the relationship between fathers and their children from the first days of hospitalization in the NNU. The commitment component is the basis for the development of other components in the relationship with their children. Furthermore, involvement influences the deployment of emotional attachment, discovery, physical proximity, and communication toward premature infants. Similarly, the 5 themes of the model can be seen as forming a dynamic nexus in which each theme influences the others.
Implications For Practice:
For neonatal nurses, this model of the early father-child relationship helps the understanding of the deployment of that relationship according to 5 components. Similarly, it provides awareness of the experiences of fathers so that nurses can be better equipped to support and individualize interventions tailored to their specific needs, thus helping them develop and sustain the relationship with their children.
Implications For Research:
This study allows us to better understand fathers' experience regarding the establishment of the relationship to their premature infants born between 32 and 37 weeks of gestation. However, there is little understanding about the early paternal experience and more research on this dyad is necessary in neonatology.
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