Poster #102 - Parent narratives of family experience with pre-term babies: Factors contributing to resilience

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Approximately 11% of infants born in the United States are pre-term (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2015) and of these 1.93% are born prior to 32 weeks of gestation (Child Health USA, 2013). Prematurity and low-birth weight have been well established early risk factors for chronic health problems, developmental delays, speech and learning problems, and behavior or emotional problems (Bradley, 2003.,Greenough, 2012). In addition to prematurity itself, Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) can be a stressful environment for families and the developing infants, and can have long-term implications for parent-infant relationships and infant learning (Whitfield, 2003).

Understandably, a bulk of the scientific literature about pre-term infants has focused on the wide range of difficulties that they experience while in the NICU and over the course of their life. Despite these difficulties, many pre-term infants and their families are resilient, and an understanding of parents’ experiences and family factors that promote resilience is lacking. The resiliency model of family stress, adjustment, and adaptation (McCubbin, McCubbin, Thompson, Thompson, 1995; McCubbin, Thompson, & McCubbin, 2001; McCubbin & McCubbin, 1996) illustrates why and how some families adapt well to stressful life situations and others are vulnerable to deterioration. Within the context of this theoretical framework, the purpose of the current qualitative study was to understand parents’ experiences through pregnancy, labor and delivery, medical care in the NICU, discharge from the NICU and caring for the baby at home, and early childhood.

Participants (n = 20 families from across USA, 85% White, primarily mothers) were recruited through social media (e.g., parent- run facebook groups specifically for those with pre-term babies), and fliers posted at local daycare centers, and organizations that provide early intervention services. Infants were born between 23 to 31 weeks of gestation (11 between 23- 27 weeks, and nine between 28 to 31 weeks), 18 were singleton, and 9 were boys. Families represented a wide range of socioeconomic class and education levels. Participants completed a health and demographics questionnaire, and were interviewed either in-person or over the phone.

Qualitative analysis revealed 31 themes that were organized in seven domains: factors contributing to pre-term birth, stressors, ways of coping, sources of support, impact on oneself and the family, factors contributing to resilience in the NICU and post-discharge. A number of individual differences emerged. For example, some parents expressed disappointment at not being able to hold their babies immediately, while others were fearful about holding such a tiny baby. Some parents found talking to other parents in the NICU helpful, while for others, these interactions contributed to stress. Some parents discussed personal growth as a result of having a pre-term baby, while others discussed challenges such as post-partum depression. Parents identified a number of factors that contributed to the infants’ resilience including outstanding medical care, family support, their own engagement and advocacy, and the infant’s disposition. These findings provide a preliminary foundation to begin examining resilience factors among families with a pre-term child.

Authors

• Vaishali Raval, Miami University of Ohio
  Presenting Author

• Nicola Rodrigues, Miami University
  Non-Presenting Author