Date of Award

11-13-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MSc in Nursing

First Advisor

Dr. Tazeen Saeed Ali

Second Advisor

Ms. Nimira Asif

Third Advisor

Ms. Kiran Mubeen

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Every year, 1.1 million neonates die because of complications developed by preterm and Low Birth Weight (LBW) infants. With LBW and preterm infants, the risk of non-communicable diseases also increases. Pakistan holds the third position among the highest death rate of newborns, globally. Almost 30 million LBW infants are born annually around the globe, and this is 23.4% of all live births. Preterm babies are those who are delivered before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Annually, 15 million babies are delivered preterm, and this makes it one in 10 babies. Approximately one million babies die because of the complications due to preterm delivery. Having LBW and preterm infants with complications negatively affects the lives of parents and family. Nurses play a very important role while counseling parents, involving parents in infant care, and in delivering discharge teaching.
/="/">Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of parents having preterm or LBW infants. It also highlighted the challenges, factors and parental stress encountered by parents while caring for LBW and preterm babies.
/="/">Methodology: An Explorative Descriptive Qualitative (EDQ) study design was applied to explore the experiences of parents having preterm or low birth weight babies in District Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The researcher took approval from the Ethical Review Committee (ERC) of the Aga Khan University (AKU) and the Medical Superintendent of the concerned hospital.
/="/">Findings: The researcher approached 11 participants for interview. Among them, three were couples, seven fathers and one mother. All the mothers were housewives and were not doing any job. None of the study participants had ever had a preterm or LBW baby before. Using an interview guide, the researcher assessed the information from semi-structured interviews conducted with parents of preterm and LBW babies. Based on the participants' shared information, four themes surfaced with further more categories related to experiences of the parents while caring for their preterm or LBW babies. These themes were stress-causing factors, coping with unavoidable situations, factor affecting care of preterm and recommendations by parents. The most difficult challenge for parents who had preterm or LBW babies faced multiple problems while caring for their babies. Participants faced a substantial challenge when buying the baby formula. Family structure directly affects parents of preterm and LBW babies. Data suggested that societal feedback regarding care of preterm baby was a major source of stress for most of the preemie parents. Parents felt discouraged while caring for the baby, as members of the society imposed their perceptions. Participants generally said they trusted known staff members more than they trusted strangers. Lack of nurses' communication diminished their trust in experts and increased their stress and anxiety levels. Most of the parents who could afford it preferred private hospitals to government hospitals for their infant care. In a private setting, physicians and nurses are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and if there are any problems with the infant, the parents can call health providers. There is a gap in the health care system due to which mothers are unable to start early breast-feeding, which leads to the initiation of formula feeding
/="/">Conclusion: It should be the priority goal of each hospital to counsel and guide mothers about exclusive breast-feeding. This will prevent babies from getting diseases and decrease the financial burden on parents. Government must assign special trained person in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the teaching and guidance of breast-feeding practices.

First Page

1

Last Page

74

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