Parents’ experiences of transitioning to home with a very-low-birthweight infant : a meta-ethnography

• Medical-technological advances and neurodevelopmental care have improved the survival of extremely- and very-low-birthweight infants born before 32 weeks' gestation. After months in neonatal care, the infants are discharged, and parents exited but full of anxiety. This review is designed as a meta-ethnography, addressing parents' discharge experiences to comprehend the synthesised research, which includes 12 eligible studies. From the analysis, we constructed three themes: ‘approaching discharge with both uncertainty and confidence’; ‘discharge as a longed-for though disordering turning point’; and ‘facing joys, worries and multiple challenges when at home’. The overarching interpretation was ‘discharge as double-edged sword’. We conclude that bringing home very-low-birthweight infants is a joyful event, yet parents also experience discharge as never-endingly worrying, as a time filled with challenges to which parents must adapt and as necessitating continuous support from knowledgeable providers.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Discharge-to-home

Extremely-low-birthweight

Meta-ethnography

Neonatal care

parents

Transition

Very-low-birthweight

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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