Caring for the Bereaved Parents in the NICU: Fathers-The Missing Piece of the Puzzle.

PURPOSE

Grief after infant death is a common experience of bereaved parents often seen in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The NICU staff tend to focus more on the mother's support, and fathers are often not treated equally as mothers. This study aimed to investigate the circumstance of caring for parents facing infant death in NICUs.

METHODS

Twenty-eight face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted between March 2018 and April 2019 in the northwest of Iran. Participants were selected via purposive sampling. An inductive thematic approach was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Three main themes and 7 subthemes were extracted. The main themes were: "the father-the missing piece of the puzzle in the mourning process," "restricted presence of fathers due to religious and traditional beliefs," and "the father-the patience stone."

CONCLUSION

Due to cultural-religious backgrounds, traditional beliefs, structural problems, and organizational restrictions, fathers in NICUs do not receive adequate support, particularly when faced with their infant's death. Bereaved fathers need to receive more support and attention from healthcare providers. Therefore, there is a need for changing the care providers' attitudes regarding the role of fathers and the quality of support that fathers should receive in the Muslim populations.