Väliaho Anniina, Lehtonen Liisa, Axelin Anna, Korja Riikka
Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
Children (Basel). 2023 Apr 28;10(5):793. doi: 10.3390/children10050793.
(1) Background. The birth of an infant at 23 to 24 weeks poses a significant challenge to healthy parent-infant bonding because of the high risk of infant loss and the prolonged separation. The aim of this study was to retrospectively explore the narratives of parents with children born at 23-24 weeks about their bonding formation and relational experiences. (2) Methods. This was a qualitative descriptive study conducted with Finnish parents of children born at 23 or 24 weeks of gestation. Twenty-nine mothers and eight fathers were retrospectively interviewed using a semi-structured interview about the bonding process with their infant during the period in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and their later parent-child relationship. Parents' narratives were deductively analysed according to a framework previously developed for studying parental bonding. (3) Results. Our results showed that several parents described the bonding process as natural or even easy despite the traumatic start to parenthood. Support from NICU staff and providing opportunities for participation in infant care and parent-infant physical closeness were reported to enhance the bonding process. Our study identified earlier parenting experience as a new element supporting bonding. (4) Conclusions. According to our results, essential elements enhancing parent-infant bonding in NICU settings seem to be supporting parents psychologically, promoting parent-infant closeness, and encouraging parental participation in the infants' care, even with the most immature infants.
(1) 背景。由于婴儿夭折风险高且分离时间长，23至24周出生的婴儿对健康的亲子关系建立构成重大挑战。本研究的目的是回顾性探索孩子在23至24周出生的父母关于亲子关系形成及关系体验的叙述。(2) 方法。这是一项针对芬兰妊娠23或24周出生孩子的父母开展的定性描述性研究。采用半结构化访谈对29位母亲和8位父亲进行回顾性访谈，内容涉及他们在新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）期间与婴儿的关系建立过程以及后来的亲子关系。根据先前为研究父母与子女关系而制定的框架对父母的叙述进行演绎分析。(3) 结果。我们的结果表明，尽管为人父母的开端充满创伤，但仍有几位父母将关系建立过程描述为自然甚至轻松。据报告，NICU工作人员的支持以及提供参与婴儿护理和亲子身体亲密接触的机会增强了关系建立过程。我们的研究确定早期育儿经历是支持关系建立的一个新因素。(4) 结论。根据我们的结果，在NICU环境中增强亲子关系的关键要素似乎是在心理上支持父母、促进亲子亲密关系以及鼓励父母参与婴儿护理，即使是对最不成熟的婴儿也是如此。
