Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Neonatal Intensive Care, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Acute and Critical Illness, Oslo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
PLoS One. 2021 Oct 29;16(10):e0258358. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258358. eCollection 2021.
Worldwide, strict infection control measures including visitation regulations were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic at Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). These regulations gave restricted access for parents to their hospitalized infants. The consequence was limited ability to involve in the care of their infants. At Oslo University Hospital entry to NICU was denied to all except healthy mothers in March 2020. The absolute access ban for fathers lasted for 10 weeks. The aim of this study was to explore parental experiences with an infant hospitalized in the NICU during this absolute visitation ban period.
We invited post discharge all parents of surviving infants that had been hospitalized for at least 14 days to participate. They were interviewed during autumn 2020 using an explorative semi-structured interview approach. Data were analyzed via inductive thematic analysis.
Nine mothers and four fathers participated. The COVID-19 regulations strongly impacted the parent's experiences of their stay. The fathers' limited access felt life-impacting. Parents struggled to become a family and raised their voices to be heard. Not being able to experience parenthood together led to emotional loneliness. The fathers struggled to learn how to care for their infant. The regulations might lead to a postponed attachment. On the other hand, of positive aspect the parents got some quietness. Being hospitalized during this first wave was experienced as exceptional and made parents seeking alliances by other parents. Social media was used to keep in contact with the outside world.
The regulations had strong negative impact on parental experiences during the NICU hospitalization. The restriction to fathers' access to the NICU acted as a significant obstacle to early infant-father bonding and led to loneliness and isolation by the mothers. Thus, these COVID-19 measures might have had adverse consequences for families.
由于 COVID-19 大流行，全球新生儿重症监护病房 (NICU) 实施了严格的感染控制措施，包括探视规定。这些规定限制了父母探望住院婴儿的机会。结果是父母参与照顾婴儿的能力有限。2020 年 3 月，奥斯陆大学医院禁止除健康母亲外的任何人进入 NICU。父亲的绝对探视禁令持续了 10 周。本研究旨在探讨在绝对探视禁令期间住院婴儿的父母的经历。
我们邀请所有在 NICU 住院至少 14 天的幸存婴儿的出院后父母参与。他们在 2020 年秋季使用探索性半结构化访谈方法进行了访谈。通过归纳主题分析对数据进行分析。
9 位母亲和 4 位父亲参与了研究。COVID-19 规定强烈影响了父母的住院经历。父亲有限的探视机会感到影响生活。父母努力成为一个家庭，并大声疾呼，希望被听到。无法一起体验父母身份导致情感上的孤独。父亲努力学习如何照顾他们的婴儿。这些规定可能导致依恋推迟。另一方面，父母也获得了一些安静的时间。在这一波疫情中住院被视为特殊情况，使父母通过其他父母寻求联盟。他们使用社交媒体与外界保持联系。
这些规定对 NICU 住院期间父母的经历产生了强烈的负面影响。对父亲进入 NICU 的限制成为早期婴儿-父亲联系的重大障碍，导致母亲感到孤独和孤立。因此，这些 COVID-19 措施可能对家庭产生了不利影响。
