title: Infant cardiac surgery: mothers tell their story: a therapeutic experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Serious congenital heart disease frequently requires major congenital heart surgery. It causes much distress for parents, which may not always be recognized and treated appropriately.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of a larger study, 26 mothers of two-month-old infants subjected to recent cardiac surgery were interviewed in depth. Each mother was invited to describe her own and what she perceived were her infant's experiences and to comment on the interview process. A systematic content analysis of the interviews was performed using qualitative research methodology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost all participants described acute stress symptoms relating to the diagnosis and the infant's surgery. In addition, most mothers reported that the interview helped them to think about and integrate what had happened to them and their infant, suggesting a probable therapeutic value to the interview.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A suitably qualified and experienced mental health professional, assisting the mother to tell her story about the diagnosis and her infant's cardiac surgery, may provide a valuable, brief, and very cost-effective therapeutic intervention for these mothers and infants. It has the potential to alleviate maternal distress, with associated gains for the developing mother-infant relationship, reducing infant morbidity, and enhancing the quality of life for both infant and mother.
authors: Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Re
authors: Suzanne
authors: S
authors: Dean
authors: Samuel
authors: S
authors: Menahem
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000209:etiology; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000523:psychology*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: congenital heart disease; congenital heart surgery; infant; morbidity; quality of life