Emotional support for families of sick neonates

Parents of sick neonates experience high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Most interventions with families of sick infants have focused on fostering the mother–infant relationship through the provision of information about infant developmental needs or through increased mother–infant contact. Many of these studies have reported improved maternal well-being, though there are some concerns about the scope and practicality of large-scale interventions. The few studies to have prioritized emotional support for parents of sick neonates have produced encouraging results. Even interventions requiring relatively few resources, such as telephone support, parent-to-parent support and group support, have been associated with reduced psychological morbidity for parents. The needs of parents can change throughout their infant’s hospitalization and not all want or benefit from the provision of additional support. Thus, neonatal intensive care units should aim to provide a varied, flexible and sustainable programme of support options. Further research should focus on the needs of fathers.