Background:Physical and emotional parent-infant closeness activate important neurobiological mechanisms involved in parenting. In a neonatal care context, most research focuses on physical (parental presence, skin-to-skin contact) aspects; insights into emotional closeness can be masked by findings that overemphasise the barriers or challenges to parenting an infant during neonatal care.Aim: To explore existing qualitative research to identify what facilitates and enables parents' experiences of emotional closeness to their infants while cared for in a neonatal unit. Study design:A systematic review using meta-ethnographic methods. Search strategy involved searches on six databases, author runs, and backward and forward chaining.Reciprocal translation was used to identify and compare key concepts of parent-infant emotional closeness.Results: Searches identified 6,992 hits, and 34 studies from 17 countries that involved 670 parents were included. Three overarching themes and associated sub-themes were developed.'Embodied connections' describes how emotional closeness was facilitated by reciprocal parent-infant interactions, spending time as a family, and methods for parents to feel connected while physically separated. 'Inner knowing' concerns how knowledge about infant and maternal health and understanding the norms of neonatal care facilitated emotional closeness.'Evolving parental role' relates to how emotional closeness was intertwined with parental identities of contributing to infant health, providing direct care, and being acknowledged as a parent. Conclusion:Parent-infant closeness evolves and is facilitated by multifaceted biopsychosocial factors. Practice implications include creating private and uninterrupted family time, strategies for parents to maintain an emotional connection to their infant when separated, and neurobiology education for staff.

This study aimed to further our understanding of the daily experience of being a young mother for Australian young women who have preterm infants. Background: Both preterm birth and adolescent childbearing are associated with increased risk of poor maternal and infant health outcomes. However, little research has explored how having a preterm infant influences the experience of being a mother for young women or whether it differs from having a full-term infant. Methods This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study analysed interviews with 14 young women (15-19yrs; 10 preterm & 4 full-term) who were interviewed three times over the first 12 months of parenting. Results: Preterm birth did not detract from the joys associated with becoming a mother, which was central to all mother's stories. Instead, preterm birth exacerbated challenges faced by all young women, such as transportation difficulties and negative judgment from others. Unique challenges included lack of embodied interaction with their infants and navigating the hospital system. Young women frame the experience of being a mother in terms of immediacy and daily demands. Conclusion: This research further challenges the view that early motherhood is detrimental to young women, by demonstrating how the polemics of enjoyment and challenge co-exist in the experience of mothering on a day-today basis. Using global categories such as age or birth status to assess risk may not be appropriate as they do not provide nuanced criteria for establishing which mothers need assistance.

Objective To examine patterns and trajectories for Australian adolescent mothers as they transition into adulthood. Background Adolescent mothers have diverse outcomes; some experience multiple negative outcomes for themselves and their children, and others prosper. Little is known about the experience over time for adolescent mothers and what factors affect their trajectories. Method Three exemplar women's stories are presented as case studies, showcasing themes identified from in‐depth interviews conducted with 10 women who gave birth as adolescents. Interviews were conducted at the time of infant birth, as well as 3 months, 12 months, and 5 years later. Results Two themes emerged that captured the nuanced experiences of these adolescent mothers: stability to chaos and I've grown, but I can't reach the stars. Stability in the areas of family, relationships, geography, and planning/routine were related to whether young women had sufficient resources to focus on their own growth. Conclusion An adolescent mother's functioning is related to the extent to which she experiences stability across a number of key domains, which in turn act to limit or enable growth and development. Implications Adolescent mothers are a heterogeneous group. Targeted assessments and interventions are needed that address disadvantage and promote stability.