Mothers' experiences of neonatal intensive care: A systematic review and implications for clinical practice

Preterm birth is on the rise worldwide. Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have enabled many critically ill newborns to survive. When a premature baby is admitted to the NICU, the mother-infant relationship may be interrupted, affecting the mother's mental health.

To examine the maternal emotions associated with having a child in the NICU and provide suggestions for clinical practice.

MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychARTICLES, and PsychINFO were searched for relevant articles between 2005 to 2019, and six qualitative articles were chosen that explored the experiences of mothers who had a preterm infant in the NICU. The thematic analysis method was used to identify the most common themes.

Four main themes of the experience of mothers who had a preterm infant in the NICU were identified: Negative emotional impacts on the mother, support, barriers to parenting, and establishment of a loving relationship.

NICU environment is not conducive to mother-child bonding, but we stipulate steps that health care professionals can take to reduce the negative emotional toll on mothers of NICU babies.