Family resilience according to the narratives of parents of very low and extremely low birth weight infants

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to examine the family resilience during the period up to discharge of the baby from the neonatal intensive care unit on the basis of the narratives of both parents of very low and extremely low birth weight infants.

Participants and Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews and participant observations in 8 married couples (16 individuals) who had a very low and extremely low birth weight infants (<1500 g). The interpretative phenomenological analysis was used in this study.

Results

During the period up to discharge of their babies, families of a very low and extremely low birth weight infants advanced toward a sense of reconstruction, while taking one step forward and one step backward from the shock, through three-phase changes: the phase of confusion and perturbation by the sudden shock, the phase of integrating reality and unreality, and the phase of family-life reconstruction for the baby. Furthermore, with regard to family resilience throughout this process, the following 6 themes within brackets were observed.

Concerning feelings of their partner, parents chose their words carefully, and through thoughtful 【emotional interactions】, they deepened their mutual understanding. Furthermore, to 【break free from a preoccupation that “it is not a normal baby”】, parents accepted their reality and accepted their baby as who he/she is and as “our baby.” This indicated that 【fostering family ties by accumulating shared time】 is important, which led to positive feelings toward the baby were developed through interaction. Moreover, 【social exchanges with people the parents who became acquainted with through connections in the local community】 gave rise to empathy, which alleviated solitude, and created an opportunity to obtain necessary knowledge and resources. As the day of discharge was approaching, 【adjusting one's identity as a parent】 while making 【lifestyle compromises to prioritize the baby】 helped to reconstruct the family toward establishing a unique lifestyle that suited their own family inclusive of the baby.

Conclusion

It was suggested that the six family resilience found in the present study facilitated smooth interaction between the parents, and were necessary strengths to progress towards reconstruction of the family unit to include a baby. Results indicated that it is important that nurses focus on the strengths of the parents through conversations and their relationship, and then provide support that enables such strengths to be exhibited and promoted in the natural process of becoming a parent.