title: Prolonged Distress of Parents After Early Preterm Birth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine how parents describe the distress of early preterm birth in the months and years after the infant's hospital discharge.
  
  
  METHODS
  Discourse analysis of in-depth interviews and photo elicitation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Homes or cafés in the Pacific Northwest United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of premature infants born between 24 and 30 weeks gestation (N = 10) who experienced significant distress in and out of the hospital. Parents participated in the study when their children were between 15 months and 8 years old.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants described dealing with prematurity, emotional distress, and parenting in individual interviews and returned for second interviews in which they further described their distress using photographs. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parents described preterm birth, hospitalization, and the aftermath as ongoing traumatic events. Discourses of distress included the Perfect Child, the Good Mother, and the Good Father. Parents used these discourses to reconcile the loss of an idealized birth and parenting after the birth of a premature child. Isolation and Medicalized Parenting were used to explain how parents struggled to interact within their social networks and to parent under challenging circumstances.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Participants described their trauma and distress in ways not captured by psychiatric diagnoses such as depression and anxiety. Findings may help nurses be aware of the negative effects of preterm birth and respond to parents' emotional needs.
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kantrowitz-Gordon
authors.forename: Molly R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Altman
authors.forename: Roxanne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vandermause
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D013995:Time; D014481:United States
keywords: discourse analysis; distress; parenting; photo elicitation; preterm birth