Loss of parental role as a cause of stress in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Having a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a major source of stress for parents. The barriers to parenting and reactions to the environment may negatively influence the parent-infant relationship.


OBJECTIVE
To identify NICU-related parental stress and associated factors.


METHODS
Parents (N = 156) of newborns admitted to NICU completed the Parental Stressor Scale.


RESULTS
Most of the parents (46%) rated the experience to be extremely stressful. The principal cause of stress was the alteration in parental role and being separated from their baby. Stress was not associated to education, marital status, infants' birth weight, gestational age, congenital anomalies or if the parents expected the baby to be in the NICU.


CONCLUSIONS
Identification of areas associated to higher levels of stress in parents may help the NICU staff to establish strategies to help parents cope with the stress caused by being unable to start their parenting role immediately after their babies' birth.
Department of Pediatrics, UPR School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Kary M
KM
Bouet
Norma
N
Claudio
Verónica
V
Ramirez
Lourdes
L
García-Fragoso
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D012380:Role; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult