'Moving the boundaries': understanding the concept of parental mental health after a child's admission to intensive care.

英国每年有超过10万名婴儿接受新生儿护理，约占新生儿总数的八分之一。这种住院治疗可能对父母的心理健康产生有害影响，有证据表明，多达43%的母亲在婴儿从新生儿重症监护病房(NICU)出院时经历了中度到重度的焦虑。NICU将父母暴露在高度的威胁和不确定性之下，强制分离限制了早期建立联系的机会，使父母在突然过渡到家的过程中非常脆弱。然而，人们对父母的经历或帮助他们的最佳方式知之甚少。实施混合方法设计，目前的研究旨在概念化母亲和父亲出院后的育儿体验。它将探索过渡期间的痛苦轨迹，同时探索父母的关键支持需求。父母的痛苦与婴儿的认知和身体发育、成长、情绪和行为问题的不良后果有关。同样，也观察到了母婴结合和照料做法方面的负面后果。更好地了解可能经历长期痛苦的父母的支助需求，并制定有针对性的干预措施，将缓解这些不利情况，减少不必要的重新接纳，从而减轻个人、社会和经济负担。

Every year, over 100,000 babies across the UK receive neonatal care, approximating to one in eight of those born. This hospitalisation can have detrimental effects for parents' mental health, with evidence to suggest as many as 43% of mothers experience moderate to severe levels of anxiety at the time their infant is discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The NICU exposes parents to high levels of threat and uncertainty and the enforced separation limits early bonding opportunities, making parents incredibly vulnerable during the abrupt transition to home. However, little is known about parents' experiences or the best way to help them. Implementing a mixed methods design, the current research aims to conceptualise the post-discharge parenting experience for both mothers and fathers. It will explore the trajectory of distress during the transition period, while exploring the key support needs for parents. Parental distress is associated with adverse outcomes for the infant's cognitive and physical development, growth, emotional and behavioural problems. Negative outcomes regarding mother-infant bonding and caregiving practices have likewise been observed. Better knowledge of the support needs of parents who are likely to experience prolonged distress, and development of tailored intervention, will ameliorate these adversities and reduce unnecessary readmissions, reducing personal, societal and economic burden.