A Compassion-Focused Approach to Support Parents After Preterm Birth.

Preterm birth remains a global health challenge with significant implications for neonatal outcomes and parental mental health. This paper explores the complex psychological experiences and intrapersonal processes of parents after preterm birth, highlighting their heightened risk for mental health difficulties such as postpartum depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Existing mental health interventions are medicalised, primarily focusing on infant care. As a result, there is currently a lack of emotionally-focused interventions aimed at supporting parents after preterm birth. The current conceptual review proposes a compassion-focused framework to address the unique challenges faced by these parents. The paper aims to: (1) examine common experiences of parents of preterm-born infants, (2) explore the complex psychological processes that underpin these experiences, (3) present theoretical models that can be applied to understand parent's psychological responses, (4) critically review existing interventions aimed at supporting parent mental health following preterm birth, (5) introduce a compassion-focused approach as a novel framework for support, (6) review existing compassion-based interventions aimed at perinatal populations, and (7) outline directions for future research. By integrating a compassion-focused approach, this paper aims to provide actionable insights to support parents' mental health following preterm birth.Clinical Trial Number not applicable.