ArticleBMJ open2018
What can make things better for parents when babies need abdominal surgery in their first year of life? A qualitative interview study in the UK.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Clinical and cost-effectiveness of detailed anomaly ultrasound screening in the first trimester: a mixed-methods study.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Factors affecting task shifting/sharing from physicians to pharmacists in cancer chemotherapy in Japan: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2026Article
- What Matters to Patients With Nonsyndromic Craniosynostosis and Their Parents: A Qualitative Study Informing the Development of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Set.The Journal of craniofacial surgery · 2025Article
- Long-term follow-up of patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.World journal of pediatric surgery · 2024Review
- The evidence base for surgical treatment of infants with necrotizing enterocolitis or spontaneous intestinal perforation: Impact of trial design and questions regarding implementation of trial recommendations.Seminars in pediatric surgery · 2023Article
- Distress and post-traumatic stress in parents of patients with congenital gastrointestinal malformations: a cross-sectional cohort study.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2022Article
- Congenital diaphragmatic hernia.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2022Review
- "When the surgery was over, I felt like the worst part had passed": experiences of parents of children with craniosynostosis.Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing : JSPN · 2022Article
- Exploring the lived experiences of parents caring for infants with gastroschisis in Rwanda: The untold story.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- The challenges of caring for children who require complex medical care at home: 'The go between for everyone is the parent and as the parent that's an awful lot of responsibility'.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020Article
- Easing Parental Worries: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis on Preoperative Education Methods for Reducing Anxiety in Parents of Children Undergoing Surgery.Journal of Indian Association of Pediatric SurgeonsReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo understand the experiences of parents of infants who required surgery early in life. To identify messages and training needs for the extended clinical teams caring for these families-including paediatric surgeons, neonatologists, nurses, obstetricians, midwives and sonographers.
settingUK-wide interview study, including England, Wales and Scotland.
participantsIn-depth interviews were conducted with 44 parents who had a baby who underwent early abdominal surgery. Conditions included those diagnosed antenatally (eg, exomphalos, gastroschisis, congenital diaphragmatic hernia) or those which were detected postnatally (eg, Hirschsprung's disease, necrotising enterocolitis). Interviews were video and audio recorded and analysed using a modified grounded-theory approach.
resultsWhile some parents reported experiencing excellent communication and felt they were listened to and involved by the care team, this was not always the case. Dealing with large, complex medical and surgical teams could result in conflicting messages, uncertainty and distress. Parents wanted information but also described being overwhelmed and wanting to distance themselves to maintain hope. Information and support from other parents in hospital and online groups were highly valued. Of particular concern was support when going home and caring for their baby after discharge; an open access policy for readmission offered a helpful safety net.
conclusionsListening to the experience of parents provides rich data to enhance clinical understandings on how to improve information and communication with parents, and ameliorate the deep and lasting distress and anxiety that some parents feel when their infants face early surgery. We suggest that the writings of Bourdieu could have resonance in interpreting the experiences of parents as they enter the world of highly technical neonatal medicine and surgery and the knowledge of the professionals who work in these environments.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.