Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin, 1350 University Avenue, 53706, Madison, WI, USA.
Intermountain Healthcare, Hillcrest Pediatrics, 5063 S. Cottonwood St. Ste. 160, Murray, 84157, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Matern Child Health J. 2022 Oct;26(10):2060-2069. doi: 10.1007/s10995-022-03496-1. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
Despite evidence for heightened psychiatric risk and unique parenting challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, no research exists on the specific needs of parents of infants and responsiveness of pediatric care to their needs. We aimed to describe the support needs of new parents and explore their experiences with pediatric care.
In late 2020 we conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 mothers of babies born or due that year. Interviews addressed perinatal experiences during the pandemic, with an emphasis on experiences related to social support. In an iterative, inductive process, thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
This study identifies a set of support needs specific to the context of parenting an infant during the COVID-19 crisis: coping with the compound psychological impacts of the postpartum period and a pandemic; parenting in the absence of expected social support; risk assessment to keep infant and family safe. This study finds that policies implemented by health care providers to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission came at a cost to new parents and parent-provider relationships. Participants reported mixed experiences with in-person and telehealth pediatric care, including inadequate and/or uncomfortable postpartum mental health screening and breastfeeding support, and identified specific features that constituted responsive care during the pandemic.
Normative changes associated with the postpartum period combined with complex adaptations necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic presented substantial challenges for families with infants, even relatively privileged families. Providers can incorporate these findings to enhance support for families and promote maternal and child health.
尽管有证据表明在 COVID-19 大流行期间精神疾病风险增加和育儿挑战独特，但目前尚无关于婴儿父母的具体需求以及儿科护理对这些需求的反应的研究。我们旨在描述新父母的支持需求，并探讨他们对儿科护理的体验。
在 2020 年末，我们对 30 名当年出生或即将出生的婴儿的母亲进行了半结构式访谈。访谈内容涉及大流行期间的围产期经历，重点是与社会支持相关的经历。采用迭代、归纳的方法对数据进行主题分析。
本研究确定了一系列在 COVID-19 危机期间育儿的特定支持需求：应对产后和大流行带来的心理复合影响；在没有预期社会支持的情况下育儿；风险评估以保护婴儿和家庭安全。本研究发现，医疗保健提供者为降低 COVID-19 传播风险而实施的政策对新父母和父母与提供者的关系造成了损失。参与者报告了亲自就诊和远程医疗儿科护理的混合体验，包括产后心理健康筛查和母乳喂养支持不足和/或不舒适，以及确定了在大流行期间构成响应性护理的具体特征。
与产后期相关的规范变化以及 COVID-19 大流行所必需的复杂适应给有婴儿的家庭带来了巨大挑战，即使是相对优越的家庭也是如此。提供者可以将这些发现纳入其中，以加强对家庭的支持并促进母婴健康。
