Parents' Experiences of Their Premature Infants' Transportation From a University Hospital NICU to the NICU at Two Local Hospitals

The aim of this study was to describe how the parents of premature infants experience the transportation of their baby from the neonatal intensive care unit at a university hospital (NICU-U) to such a unit at a local hospital (NICU-L). This descriptive qualitative study comprises interviews with nine sets of parents and two mothers. The qualitative content analysis resulted in one theme: living in uncertainty about whether the baby will survive, and three categories: being distanced from the baby; fearing that something would happen to the baby during transportation; and experiencing closeness to the baby. The results also revealed that the parents experienced developmental, situational and health–illness transitions.