‘I Did Not Know We Could Exercise This Small Premature Baby’: Challenges Experienced by Parents While Implementing Early Intervention for Their Preterm Infants—A Qualitative Perspective

IF 2 4区医学 Q2 PEDIATRICS Child Care Health and Development Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI:10.1111/cch.70045

Manasa Kolibylu Raghupathy, Selim Jahangir, Sonia Khurana, Leslie Edward S. Lewis, Bhamini Krishna Rao

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Abstract

Background

Preterm birth is a highly stressful experience for both parents and infants. Parental participation in care enhances developmental outcomes, fosters parent–infant interactions and builds parental confidence. However, low parental adherence has always been a challenge in the successful implementation of intervention programs both in the NICU and at home. It is imperative to understand parents' perspectives and view the challenges that they experience through their lens while providing early intervention to their infants born preterm. This study is aimed at identifying new parents' challenges when implementing early intervention programs for their infants during the transition from hospital to home.

Methods

Ten parents of preterm infants trained to administer early intervention programs in the NICU and at home were recruited during their infants' 3-month follow-up. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted until data saturation. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and translated into English. Thematic analysis, using ATLAS.ti Version 8.0 software, identified overarching challenges through deductive and inductive coding.

Results

Data analysis identified five recurring themes: (1) navigating early days of parenthood, (2) nurturing resilience in infant care, (3) supporting infants through informed caregiving, (4) maximizing efficiency in infant care through time mastery and (5) balancing equity and flexibility in caregiving. Parents expressed fear of handling their infants born preterm because of their low birth weight and small size. Time constraints, changing sleep patterns and daily routines make it difficult for mothers to adhere to exercise programs. Parents also face challenges when infants exhibit stressful behaviour. Furthermore, gender differences were observed, with fathers often not continuing the program at home.

Conclusions

The study highlights parents' main challenges when providing early intervention for infants born preterm at home. It emphasizes issues related to maternal roles, family support and difficulties in infant handling, exercise and time management.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: CTRI/2020/09/027994.

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“我不知道我们可以锻炼这个小早产儿”：父母在对早产儿实施早期干预时遇到的挑战-定性视角

早产对父母和婴儿来说都是一种高度紧张的经历。父母参与照料可以提高发育结果，促进亲子互动，建立父母信心。然而，在新生儿重症监护室和家庭中，低家长依从性一直是成功实施干预计划的一个挑战。在为早产儿提供早期干预的同时，理解父母的观点并从他们的角度看待他们所经历的挑战是必要的。本研究旨在确定新生儿父母在从医院到家庭的过渡阶段实施早期干预方案时所面临的挑战。方法对10例早产儿父母进行为期3个月的随访，并对其在新生儿重症监护室和家中进行早期干预。进行半结构化深度访谈，直到数据饱和。采访的录音被抄录并翻译成英文。专题分析，使用ATLAS。ti Version 8.0软件，通过演绎和归纳编码确定了总体挑战。结果数据分析确定了五个反复出现的主题：(1)引导父母的早期阶段；(2)培养婴儿护理的弹性；(3)通过知情护理支持婴儿；(4)通过时间掌握最大化婴儿护理效率；(5)平衡护理的公平性和灵活性。由于早产婴儿出生时体重过轻、体型过小，父母们对处理他们的婴儿表示害怕。时间限制、睡眠模式的改变和日常生活习惯让妈妈们很难坚持锻炼计划。当婴儿表现出压力行为时，父母也面临挑战。此外，性别差异也被观察到，父亲通常不会在家里继续这个项目。该研究强调了父母在为家中早产婴儿提供早期干预时面临的主要挑战。它强调与母亲角色、家庭支持和婴儿处理、锻炼和时间管理方面的困难有关的问题。临床试验注册：ClinicalTrials.gov识别码：CTRI/2020/09/027994。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Child Care Health and Development 医学-小儿科

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

5.30%

发文量

136

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Child: care, health and development is an international, peer-reviewed journal which publishes papers dealing with all aspects of the health and development of children and young people. We aim to attract quantitative and qualitative research papers relevant to people from all disciplines working in child health. We welcome studies which examine the effects of social and environmental factors on health and development as well as those dealing with clinical issues, the organization of services and health policy. We particularly encourage the submission of studies related to those who are disadvantaged by physical, developmental, emotional and social problems. The journal also aims to collate important research findings and to provide a forum for discussion of global child health issues.