Date of Conferral

5-29-2024

Date of Award

May 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Alethea Baker

Abstract

Parents with newborns who require medical care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) immediately following birth are at an increased risk of experiencing psychological distress. While quantitative research studies have determined that a NICU admission can have detrimental effects on parents, a better understanding of the lived experience for both mothers and fathers is necessary to ensure adequacy in the standard of care given to parents while their newborn is admitted to the NICU. The phenomenon has not previously been explored using the phenomenological approach of heuristic inquiry. Constructivism, social constructivism, and the transactional model of stress and coping were used as theoretical frameworks to inform the development of this heuristic inquiry, to include the semi structured interview and data analysis. Eight parents with newborns previously admitted to the NICU were included as co-researchers of the study. The seven processes central to heuristic inquiry were used to facilitate exploration, self-reflection, and meaning making. Data were analyzed using embodied relational transcription. Key findings of the study included participant perceptions of NICU staff, the importance of spousal and familial support, the experience of stress, trauma, depression, PTSD, and postpartum anxiety, posttraumatic growth, and an absence of mental health checkups or follow-ups for parents. The study will contribute to positive social change by allowing parents to lend voice to their experience, inform parents of coping strategies to help them manage stressors associated with the NICU, and inform mental health professionals of resources best suited for parents with newborns in the NICU.

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