Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Adv Neonatal Care. 2023 Aug 1;23(4):304-310. doi: 10.1097/ANC.0000000000001073. Epub 2023 Mar 31.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in changes in neonatal care, sometimes resulting in a separation between parents and their newborn. Knowledge about parents' experiences of this separation is limited.
To explore parents' experiences of separation from their newborn due to COVID-19.
Interviews with parents (n = 11) separated from their newborn.
The parents' experiences of being separated from their newborn were expressed under 3 themes: "To create a sense of safety in an insecure situation"; "Unexpected start to parenthood"; and "To be reunited." Parents felt abandoned and alone, even if they had support from significant others. Although they considered the separation as undesired, wanting to be with their newborn infant, it was secondary to not wanting to infect the infant with COVID-19. Furthermore, lacking information about a potentially lethal virus adds to the uncertainty that comes with having a newborn. The separation affected the whole family, some for a long time afterward.
If a new situation with potentially life-threatening effects, like the COVID-19 pandemic, occurs again, considering the experiences of these parents is paramount. Precautions should be taken to minimize the potential harm. If a separation between newborns and parents is inevitable, parents need preparation and transparent information prior to the separation and before the reunion. Well-thought-out policies must be in place to minimize the impact of a separation on both parties. Parents should be able to have a deputy parent present during an undesired but necessary separation from their newborn.
COVID-19 大流行导致新生儿护理发生变化，有时导致父母与新生儿分离。关于父母对此类分离经历的了解有限。
探讨父母因 COVID-19 与新生儿分离的经历。
对与新生儿分离的父母（n=11）进行访谈。
父母与新生儿分离的经历可归纳为 3 个主题：“在不安全的情况下创造安全感”；“意外开始为人父母”；和“团聚”。父母感到被抛弃和孤独，即使他们得到了重要他人的支持。尽管他们认为这种分离是不想要的，想要和他们的新生儿在一起，但这是次要的，不想让婴儿感染 COVID-19。此外，缺乏关于潜在致命病毒的信息增加了对新生儿的不确定性。这种分离影响了整个家庭，有些家庭在之后很长一段时间都受到影响。
如果再次发生具有潜在生命威胁的新情况，如 COVID-19 大流行，考虑这些父母的经历至关重要。应采取预防措施将潜在危害降到最低。如果新生儿和父母之间不可避免地要分离，在分离之前和团聚之前，父母需要准备并获得透明的信息。必须制定深思熟虑的政策，以最大程度地减少分离对双方的影响。如果父母不可避免地要与新生儿分离，应允许其指定的父母代表在旁。
