Dataset Information

Paternal and Maternal Testosterone in Parents of NICU Infants Transitioning Home.

ABSTRACT: Lower testosterone during the transition to new parenthood is considered beneficial to help parents better engage with their infants. No data currently exist studying salivary testosterone of parents with infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) during the transition to home. We examine testosterone levels for parents of very low-birth-weight infants, including links between salivary testosterone and infant factors (such as breast-feeding), psychosocial stress, and changes over time.Testosterone salivary samples were assayed after self-collection by 86 parents (43 fathers and 43 mothers) with NICU infants at wakeup and bedtime prior to discharge and at 3 additional times at home. Self-reported survey measures, including psychosocial reports, were also collected at these times.Using multilevel modeling approaches, we report significant associations between paternal testosterone by time and psychosocial adjustment and between both paternal and maternal testosterone and infant feeding mode (P < .05). Results were significant after accounting for covariates. Our study is the first to examine the time course of diurnal testosterone for parents of premature infants over the transition home; as such, we suggest further research into better understanding parental physiology in this vulnerable parent population.

SUBMITTER: Garfield CF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5117660 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct/Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Paternal and Maternal Testosterone in Parents of NICU Infants Transitioning Home.

Garfield Craig F CF Simon Clarissa D CD Rutsohn Joshua J Lee Young S YS

The Journal of perinatal & neonatal nursing 20161001 4

Lower testosterone during the transition to new parenthood is considered beneficial to help parents better engage with their infants. No data currently exist studying salivary testosterone of parents with infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) during the transition to home. We examine testosterone levels for parents of very low-birth-weight infants, including links between salivary testosterone and infant factors (such as breast-feeding), psychosocial stress, and changes over time.Test ...[more]

PMID: 27776034

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Project description:IntroductionParental presence in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been demonstrated to enhance infant growth and development, reduce parental anxiety and stress and strengthen parent-infant bonding. Since eHealth technology emerged, research on its utilisation in NICUs has risen substantially. There is some evidence that incorporating such technologies in the NICU can reduce parental stress and enhance parent confidence in caring for their infant.Several countries, including China, restrict parental attendance in NICUs, citing infection control challenges, issues of privacy and confidentiality and perceived additional workload for healthcare professionals. Due to COVID-19 pandemic-related shortages of personal protective equipment and uncertain mode of transmission, many NICUs around the world closed to parental visiting and engagement in neonatal care.There is anecdotal evidence that, given pandemic-related restrictions, eHealth technologies, have increasingly been used in NICUs as a potential substitute for in-person parental presence.However, the constraints and enablers of technologies in these situations have not been exhaustively examined. This scoping review aims to update the literature on eHealth technology utilisation in the NICU and to explore the literature on the challenges and facilitators of eHealth technology implementation to inform future research.Methods and analysisThe five-stage Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology will serve as the foundation for this scoping review. Eight databases will be searched for the relevant literature published between January 2000 and August 2022 in either English or Chinese. Grey literature will be manually searched. Data extraction and eligibility screening will be carried out by two impartial reviewers. There will be periods of both quantitative and qualitative analysis.Ethics and disseminationSince all data and information will be taken from publicly accessible literature, ethical approval would not be necessary. A peer-reviewed publication will be published with the results of this scoping review.Trial registration numberThis scoping review protocol was registered in Open Science Framework and can be found here: https://osf.io/AQV5P/.

Project description:BackgroundPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) frequently reported high levels of stress, uncertainty, and decreased parenting confidence. Early research has demonstrated that parents have had less access to their infants in the hospital due to restrictions on parental presence secondary to the pandemic. It is unknown how parents have perceived their experiences in the NICU since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of parents who had an infant in the NICU in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform healthcare providers and policy makers for future development of policies and care planning.MethodsThe study design was a qualitative description of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents' experiences of having an infant in the NICU. Free-text responses to open-ended questions were collected as part of a multi-method study of parents' experiences of the NICU during the first six months of the pandemic. Participants from the United States were recruited using social media platforms between the months of May and July of 2020. Data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic approach.FindingsFree-text responses came from 169 parents from 38 different states in the United States. Three broad themes emerged from the analysis: (1) parents' NICU experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic were emotionally isolating and overwhelming, (2) policy changes restricting parental presence created disruptions to the family unit and limited family-centered care, and (3) interactions with NICU providers intensified or alleviated emotional distress felt by parents. A unifying theme of experiences of emotional distress attributed to COVID-19 circumstances ran through all three themes.ConclusionsParents of infants in the NICU during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced emotional struggles, feelings of isolation, lack of family-centered care, and deep disappointment with system-level decisions. Moving forward, parents need to be considered essential partners in the development of policies concerning care of and access to their infants.

Dataset Information

Paternal and Maternal Testosterone in Parents of NICU Infants Transitioning Home.

Publications

Paternal and Maternal Testosterone in Parents of NICU Infants Transitioning Home.

Similar Datasets

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