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Father's perceptions and care involvement for their very preterm infants at French neonatal intensive care units

Amélie Stern-Delfils1, Isabelle Leray2, Laurence Caeymaex3,4

  • 1Department of Neonatology, Hospital of Mulhouse, Mulhouse, France.

Frontiers in Psychiatry
|November 30, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Fathers are increasingly present in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), but their involvement and specific needs require further attention. Continued monitoring of father engagement in NICUs is recommended.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal care
  • Parental involvement
  • Perinatal psychology

Background:

  • Fathers' roles in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are evolving.
  • Understanding fathers' perceptions and care involvement is crucial for optimizing infant and family outcomes.
  • Previous research has highlighted disparities in parental engagement, necessitating an examination of fathers' experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate fathers' perceptions and care involvement with very premature infants.
  • To assess fathers' views on the hospitalization period in the NICU.
  • To analyze the evolution of fathers' involvement over time using parental reports.

Main Methods:

  • An anonymous internet-based survey was administered to parents of very preterm infants discharged from French neonatal units.
  • Data were collected from February 2014 to January 2019, comparing two periods: 1998–2013 (P1) and 2014–2019 (P2).
  • A total of 2,483 surveys were analyzed, including 124 from fathers and 2,359 from mothers.

Main Results:

  • Father presence in the NICU increased from P1 to P2 (34.5% vs. 43.1%).
  • Fathers reported feeling more welcome and involved in care decisions compared to mothers.
  • Significant differences were observed in the types of care procedures performed and desired by mothers versus fathers.

Conclusions:

  • While fathers' presence at birth and in the NICU is increasing, their proximity to the mother and accompaniment to the NICU require improvement.
  • NICUs should implement further changes to better address the specific needs of fathers of infants requiring specialized care.
  • Ongoing assessment via online questionnaires can effectively monitor changes in father involvement within NICUs over time.
Abstract

Keywords:
NICUcare involvement and presencefathersonline survey administrationpreterm infants

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