A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Mothers' experiences of parenting and everyday life of children born at 23 weeks of gestation – a qualitative descriptive study
Authors: Väliaho Anniina, Lehtonen Liisa, Axelin Anna, Korja Riikka
Publisher: BioMed Central
Publication year: 2021
Journal: BMC Pediatrics
Journal name in source: BMC PEDIATRICS
Journal acronym: BMC PEDIATR
Article number: ARTN 48
Volume: 21
Issue: 1
Number of pages: 9
eISSN: 1471-2431
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02478-y
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/Publication/53619966
BackgroundSurviving children born at 23 gestational weeks are a growing population. As many of these children face developmental challenges during childhood and adolescence, more knowledge is needed about the everyday life of this group. The parental perspective is important, as developmental problems often pose a challenge for the parents. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore mothers' experiences of parenting children born at 23 gestational weeks and of the children's everyday lives.MethodsThis was a qualitative descriptive study conducted with mothers of children born at 23weeks of gestation. These purposively sampled eight mothers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interviews.ResultsSeven themes were formed on the basis of the interview data and they are presented in three dimensions: 1) the child seen from maternal perspective included themes 'emphasizing strengths in the midst of challenges', 'relations with peers and siblings', and 'emotional well-being and active life'; 2) the parenting experience included themes 'intensive mothering' and 'gratitude'; 3) the support included themes 'support from the social network' and 'support from society'.ConclusionsThe mothers described how the lives of their children were active and rich. The mothers were dedicated to motherhood and they also expressed feelings of gratitude. Mothers received support from social networks and from society. This qualitative study provided an important complementary perspective to the discussion on extremely premature children's quality of life. It also highlighted the importance of parental perspectives in assessing neonatal care and its outcomes.
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