Parental emotional distress after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit: A pilot study

Symptoms of depression in parents after discharge from NICU associated with family‐centred care

“…In our study, mothers reported more depressive symptoms than fathers did, which is in line with previous studies assessing the postpartum period, including studies focusing on NICU parents (Ouwendijk-Andréa et al, 2020;White-Traut et al, 1999). The proportion of mothers and fathers exceeding the screening threshold on the EPDS fell within the wide range (6.6-42.9%) reported in a recent systematic review (de Paula Eduardo et al, 2019) and decreased over time, which is consistent with three previous reviews (Norhayati et al, 2015;Pace et al, 2016;de Paula Eduardo et al, 2019).…”

“…Because individual therapies reach only a select group of parents, healthcare professionals need more approaches that are universal. We suggest the optimal approach would be to provide FCC to support all parents and possibly prevent the development of clinical depression rather than reacting to manifested depression (Ouwendijk‐Andréa et al, 2020 ).…”

Mental health monitoring in parents after very preterm birth

“…Participation rates in other studies on parental mental health ranged from 35% to 66%. 3 , 10 , 11 , 14 In a study on neurodevelopmental follow‐up for extreme premature infants, the clinical follow‐up rate was only 32%. 22 Apparently, as in other studies on parental well‐being, 3 , 8 also in this routine care setting, collecting questionnaires on parental well‐being are feasible in a selective group of the study population.…”

“…For the follow‐up care after year one, it is of importance that almost 20% of the mothers and 8% of the fathers still reported elevated symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Therefore, we also advocate for the recommendation by others 14 , 17 to continue mental health monitoring for those parents, for example at later follow‐up moments in order to facilitate additional psychological support when indicated.…”

“…7 , 13 The studies that included fathers reported that mothers had higher or similar stress levels compared with fathers during the NICU period and after discharge. 10 , 14 , 15 An association between maternal and paternal mental health symptoms in parents of VPT infants is described. 3 …”