title: The Iranian parents of premature infants in NICU experience stigma of shame.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To explore experiences of Iranian parents with a hospitalized premature infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and examine socio-cultural factors associated with having a less than perfect infant.
  
  
  METHODS
  Purposely selected 21 participants in this study were 6 fathers, 7 mothers, 5 nurses and 3 physicians specialized in neonatology. Semi-structured in-depth interviews using inductive approach and content analysis helped obtain and analyze data by open encoding for classification and theme abstraction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings revealed that parents of hospitalized NICU infants in Iran experienced: job and income loss; shattered confidence in parental role; challenges to family dynamics; shame as a social stigma; loss of control; overwhelmed with uncertainties; and stress induced physical and emotional problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unique and outstanding finding of this study was the social stigma of shame for parents of an NICU infant which directly explained the socio-cultural aspect of Iranian society where families place great importance on having a healthy and strong infant. Having a premature infant with anomalies is viewed as a family flaw. Physicians and nurses must focus more on communication with parents and fulfill an important role to educate, assure and comfort parents. Establishing support system for parents of NICU infants seem urgently needed to improve parent-infant bonding.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Haydeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heidari
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasanpour
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fooladi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012752:Shame; D057545:Social Stigma; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology