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Updated: Oct 21, 2025

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Fathers' experiences of supporting their partners during their preterm infant's stay in the neonatal intensive care
Alberto Stefana1, Paolo Biban2, Ezio Maria Padovani2
1Independent Researcher, Brescia, Italy. alberto.stefana@gmail.com.
Objective:
To explore how the fathers experience their role as a support for their partner and the relationship with them during their preterm infant's stay in the NICU.
Study Design:
Multi-method longitudinal study involving ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews, self-report questionnaires, and clinical information. Twenty fathers of preterm infants hospitalized in a level-III-NICU were included. Data were analyzed using thematic continent analysis.
Results:
Three main themes were identified: support for mother (subthemes: putting mother's and infant's needs first; hiding worries and negative emotions; counteracting the sense of guilt; fear that the mother would reject the child), mother's care for the infant (subthemes: observing mother engaged in caregiving; mother has "something extra"), and couple relationship (subthemes: collaboration; bond).
Conclusion:
Fathers supporting their partners during the stay in the NICU experience emotional distress and the need for being supported that often are hidden. This demands a great deal of emotional and physical energy.
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