Facilities for presence and provision of support to parents and significant others in neonatal units

Abstract

Aim To describe parental facilities for staying in neonatal units, visiting policies and access to emotional support during hospitalisation. Methods A cross‐sectional design was used in which a survey was presented to all neonatal units in Sweden; 34 out of 38 units participated (89%). Results The findings showed that in 50% of the units, parents could stay 24/7 for the infant's entire hospital stay. In 32% of the units, siblings could stay the night with their parents. Units had policies on restrictions for visits by siblings (80%), grandparents (59%), friends and relatives (71%). All units offered counselling to parents, and some units offered peer‐to‐peer groups (24%), diaries (35%), relaxation techniques (6%) or Internet parental forums (6%). All units enabled parents to be at home with their infant and to visit the unit for check‐ups (35%) or to have staff visits at home (65%). Conclusion Facilities for parents to stay with their infant during hospitalisation and to have significant others visit are good, but there is room for improvement. During the transitional phase to being at home, parents are facilitated in being at home before the infant is discharged and are supported by the unit, which must be considered beneficial for parents.

Parents' experiences of emotional closeness to their infants in the neonatal unit: A meta-ethnography

“…The impact of design of NUs on infants' and parents' wellbeing has also received increasing attention [8]. In particular, there is a trend towards replacing open bay design units with single family room design when building or renovating NUs [9]. The single family room design has been associated with more parental presence and skin-to-skin contact, and lower rates of stress and depression symptoms in parents [10,11].…”

Socio-family support for parents of technology-dependent extremely preterm infants after hospital discharge

“…Studies have highlighted that family support reduces parents’ stress levels (Fonseca et al, 2014). But, the birth of an extremely preterm infant is also a stressful situation for grandparents, which could limit the possibilities of providing support to parents (Flacking et al, 2019).…”

Irmãos de bebês recém-nascidos internados em unidades de neonatologia: revisão bibliográfica

“…(18) Desta forma, a cultura do cuidado poderia ser um facilitador fundamental para a presença e participação dos pais, permitindo a construção de um ambiente de "cuidado neonatal" centrado na família, (19) que está associado a impactos positivos em seus relacionamentos e bem-estar. (20,21) Existem programas estruturados de visitação de irmãos nas áreas de terapia intensiva, a fim de aumentar os níveis de conforto do pessoal ao lidar com crianças e diminuir a resistência a eles. "Uma política de irmãos permite à enfermeira tomar decisões clínicas sólidas baseadas no conhecimento do crescimento e desenvolvimento; teoria de sistemas familiares; e literatura atual aplicada de forma hábil, solidária, consistente e individualizada, não apenas dobrando as regras quando parece justificado".…”