A Mother's Experience of Hospitalization of Her Newborn in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the meaning and essence of a mother's experience of hospitalization of her newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: This study employed a qualitative research design. An interview was conducted with a mother whose newborn was hospitalized in the NICU, and the data were analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological method. RESULTS: Five main themes and 19 formulated meanings were indentified. The 5 themes were ‘drowning in pain’, ‘just look outside the glass door’, ‘being a pillar’, ‘a deepening attachment’, and ‘prepare for nurturing with hope’. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provided an in-depth understanding of the experience of a mother with a newborn in the NICU. These results can be used in the development of a nursing intervention program that provides psychological and emotional support to the mother and family.