ArticleBMC pediatrics2021
Parents' pandemic NICU experience in the United States: a qualitative study.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Women's experiences of maternity care in high-income countries during the pandemic health system shock: a follow-up systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Maternal care for preterm infants in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative systematic review.Cadernos de saude publica · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of restricted family presence during the COVID-19 pandemic on critically ill patients, families, and critical care clinicians: a qualitative systematic review.BMC health services research · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of a virtual supportive program on the knowledge of mothers of preterm infants and their bonding.Infant mental health journal · 2025Article
- Parental Stress, Depression, Anxiety, and Participation in Neonatal Care in a Referral Brazilian NICU over Different Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Trajectory of parental health-related quality of life after neonatal hospitalization - a prospective cohort study.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2025Article
- Optimal presence: enhancing parent integration to maximize neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2024Review
- Parents' Participation in Care during Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Stay in COVID-19 Era: An Observational Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Article
- Article
- Communication in the neonatal ICU for Spanish speaking parents: a qualitative interview study.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Article
- Changes, differences, and factors of parenthood in high-risk pregnant women and their partners in Japan.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Neonatal Pictures in a NICU as a Mode of Nursing Intervention to Enhance Parent-Infant Bonding: Parents' Experience during the COVID Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Heartbreak and Loneliness Due to Family Separations and Limited Visiting during COVID-19: A Qualitative Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Supporting Children and Families in Medical Settings: Insights from Child Life Specialists During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of child and family studies · 2023Article
- Perceived Social Support in Parents of Hospitalized Children During COVID-19.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- The Association between NICU Admission and Mental Health Diagnoses among Commercially Insured Postpartum Women in the US, 2010-2018.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Feeding practices in public hospitals' neonatal intensive care units: An exploration into the ways in which COVID-19 affected the best practice in Gauteng.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwykings · 2022Article
- The STEP Program-A Qualitative Study of the Supportive Therapeutic Excursion Program and Its Effect on Enabling Parental Self-Efficacy and Connectedness after the Stress-Experience of the NICU.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Postpartum depression and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC research notes · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) frequently reported high levels of stress, uncertainty, and decreased parenting confidence. Early research has demonstrated that parents have had less access to their infants in the hospital due to restrictions on parental presence secondary to the pandemic. It is unknown how parents have perceived their experiences in the NICU since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of parents who had an infant in the NICU in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform healthcare providers and policy makers for future development of policies and care planning.
methodsThe study design was a qualitative description of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents' experiences of having an infant in the NICU. Free-text responses to open-ended questions were collected as part of a multi-method study of parents' experiences of the NICU during the first six months of the pandemic. Participants from the United States were recruited using social media platforms between the months of May and July of 2020. Data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic approach.
findingsFree-text responses came from 169 parents from 38 different states in the United States. Three broad themes emerged from the analysis: (1) parents' NICU experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic were emotionally isolating and overwhelming, (2) policy changes restricting parental presence created disruptions to the family unit and limited family-centered care, and (3) interactions with NICU providers intensified or alleviated emotional distress felt by parents. A unifying theme of experiences of emotional distress attributed to COVID-19 circumstances ran through all three themes.
conclusionsParents of infants in the NICU during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced emotional struggles, feelings of isolation, lack of family-centered care, and deep disappointment with system-level decisions. Moving forward, parents need to be considered essential partners in the development of policies concerning care of and access to their infants.
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