TY - JOUR
T1 - Parents' experiences regarding neonatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - country-specific findings of a multinational survey
AU - Kostenzer, Johanna
AU - von Rosenstiel-Pulver, Charlotte
AU - Hoffmann, Julia
AU - Walsh, Aisling
AU - Mader, Silke
AU - Zimmermann, Luc J I
AU - COVID-19 Zero Separation Collaborative Group
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/4/7
Y1 - 2022/4/7
N2 - OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems, challenging neonatal care provision globally. Curtailed visitation policies are known to negatively affect the medical and emotional care of sick, preterm and low birth weight infants, compromising the achievement of the 2030 Development Agenda. Focusing on infant and family-centred developmental care (IFCDC), we explored parents' experiences of the disruptions affecting newborns in need of special or intensive care during the first year of the pandemic.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study using an electronic, web-based questionnaire.SETTING: Multicountry online-survey.METHODS: Data were collected between August and November 2020 using a pretested online, multilingual questionnaire. The target group consisted of parents of preterm, sick or low birth weight infants born during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and who received special/intensive care. The analysis followed a descriptive quantitative approach.RESULTS: In total, 1148 participants from 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine) were eligible for analysis. We identified significant country-specific differences, showing that the application of IFCDC is less prone to disruptions in some countries than in others. For example, parental presence was affected: 27% of the total respondents indicated that no one was allowed to be present with the infant receiving special/intensive care. In Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Sweden, both the mother and the father (in more than 90% of cases) were allowed access to the newborn, whereas participants indicated that no one was allowed to be present in China (52%), Poland (39%), Turkey (49%) and Ukraine (32%).CONCLUSIONS: The application of IFCDC during the COVID-19 pandemic differs between countries. There is an urgent need to reconsider separation policies and to strengthen the IFCDC approach worldwide to ensure that the 2030 Development Agenda is achieved.
AB - OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems, challenging neonatal care provision globally. Curtailed visitation policies are known to negatively affect the medical and emotional care of sick, preterm and low birth weight infants, compromising the achievement of the 2030 Development Agenda. Focusing on infant and family-centred developmental care (IFCDC), we explored parents' experiences of the disruptions affecting newborns in need of special or intensive care during the first year of the pandemic.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study using an electronic, web-based questionnaire.SETTING: Multicountry online-survey.METHODS: Data were collected between August and November 2020 using a pretested online, multilingual questionnaire. The target group consisted of parents of preterm, sick or low birth weight infants born during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and who received special/intensive care. The analysis followed a descriptive quantitative approach.RESULTS: In total, 1148 participants from 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine) were eligible for analysis. We identified significant country-specific differences, showing that the application of IFCDC is less prone to disruptions in some countries than in others. For example, parental presence was affected: 27% of the total respondents indicated that no one was allowed to be present with the infant receiving special/intensive care. In Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Sweden, both the mother and the father (in more than 90% of cases) were allowed access to the newborn, whereas participants indicated that no one was allowed to be present in China (52%), Poland (39%), Turkey (49%) and Ukraine (32%).CONCLUSIONS: The application of IFCDC during the COVID-19 pandemic differs between countries. There is an urgent need to reconsider separation policies and to strengthen the IFCDC approach worldwide to ensure that the 2030 Development Agenda is achieved.
KW - COVID-19/epidemiology
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Infant
KW - Infant, Newborn
KW - Infant, Premature
KW - Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
KW - Pandemics
KW - Parents/psychology
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - PUBLIC HEALTH
KW - UNIT
KW - NEONATOLOGY
KW - COVID-19
KW - Neonatal intensive & critical care
KW - Health policy
KW - FAMILY-CENTERED CARE
KW - INFANT
KW - Public health
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056856
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056856
M3 - Article
C2 - 35393317
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
SP - e056856
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 4
M1 - 056856
ER -