Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Results of the Premature Birth National Need-Gap Study

Journal of Perinatology volume 27, pages S38–S44 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

Family-centered care is a standard of practice in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The purpose of the study was to assess successes and opportunities for improvement with parents’ experiences and involvement in their premature infants’ care in NICUs.

Study Design:

Researchers’ surveyed 502 parents whose children were currently ⩽30 months old, had been born at a gestational age ⩽36 weeks and had gone through or were currently in NICUs.

Result:

Most parents of premature infants were reasonably satisfied with the access, attention and information received from physicians and nurses in the NICU. However, approximately one-fourth were only moderately satisfied and nearly 10% were dissatisfied.

Conclusion:

While progress has been made in meeting the needs of parents in the NICU, more work needs to be carried out to improve family-centered care efforts. Specific attention should be given to providing more information and interaction opportunities for families, which may ultimately improve NICU outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, Ventura SJ, Menacker F, Kirmeyer S . Births. Final Data for 2004. National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 55, no. 1. National Center for Health Statistics: Hyattsville, MD, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Board on Health Sciences Policy, Institute of Medicine Committee on Understanding Premature Birth and Assuring Healthy Outcomes. Introduction. In: Behrman RE, Butler AS (eds). Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2007, pp 31–52.

  3. American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Guidelines for Perinatal Care, 5th edn. American Academy of Pediatrics: Elk Grove Village, IL, 2002, pp 3–5.

  4. Harrison H . The principles of family-centered neonatal care. Pediatrics 1993; 92: 643–650.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ahmann E, Abraham MR, Johnson BH . Changing the Concept of Families as Visitors: Supporting Family Presence and Participation. Institute for Family-Centered Care: Bethesda, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  6. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Hospital Care, Institute for Family-Centered Care. Policy statement. Family-centered care and the pediatrician's role. Pediatrics 2003; 112: 691–696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Davidson JE, Powers K, Hedayat KM, Tieszen M, Kon AA, Shepard E et al. Clinical practice guidelines for support of the family in the patient-centered intensive care unit: American college of critical care medicine task force 2004–2005. Crit Care Med 2007; 35: 605–622.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Melnyk BM, Alpert-Gillis L, Feinstein NF, Fairbanks E, Schultz-Czarniak J, Hust D et al. Improving cognitive development of low-birth-weight premature infants with the COPE program: a pilot study of the benefit of early NICU intervention with mothers. Res Nurs Health 2001; 24: 373–389.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Melnyk BM, Feinstein NF, Alpert-Gillis L, Fairbanks E, Crean HF, Sinkin RA et al. Reducing premature infants’ length of stay and improving parents’ mental health outcomes with the creating opportunities for parent empowerment (COPE) neonatal intensive care unit program: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 2006; 118: e1414–e1427.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Byers JF, Lowman LB, Francis J, Kaigle L, Lutz NH, Weddell T et al. A quasi-experimental trial on individualized, developmentally supportive family-centered care. JOGN Nurs 2006; 35: 105–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Thurman SK . Parameters for establishing family-centered neonatal intensive care services. Child Health Care 1991; 20: 34–39.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Dobbins N, Bohlig C, Sutphen J . Partners in growth: implementing family-centered changes in the neonatal intensive care unit. Child Health Care 1994; 23: 115–126.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gale G, Franck LS . Toward a standard of care for parents of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Crit Care Nurse 1998; 18: 62–74.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Brazy JE, Anderson BM, Becker PT, Becker M . How parents of premature infants gather information and obtain support. Neonatal Netw 2001; 20: 41–48.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bruns DAQ, McCollum JA . Partnerships between mothers and professionals in the NICU: caregiving, information exchange, and relationships. Neonatal Netw 2002; 21: 15–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Griffin T . Family-centered care in the NICU. J Perinat Neonat Nurs 2006; 20: 98–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Griffin T, Abraham M . Transition to home from the newborn intensive care unit. Applying the principles of family-centered care to the discharge process. J Perinat Neonat Nurs 2006; 20: 243–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Board on Health Sciences Policy, Institute of Medicine Committee on Understanding Premature Birth and Assuring Healthy Outcomes. Societal costs of preterm birth. In: Behrman RE, Butler AS (eds). Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2007, pp 398–429.

  19. Cisneros Moore KA, Coker K, DuBuisson AB, Swett B, Edwards WH . Implementing potentially better practices for improving family-centered care in neonatal intensive care units: successes and challenges. Pediatrics 2003; 111: e450–e460.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Preemie Health Coalition funded this survey through the support of MedImmune Inc. We thank the Preemie Health Coalition, including co-leads American Academy of Pediatrics, March of Dimes Foundation and National Association of Neonatal Nurses, and members: American Hospital Association, American Medical Women's Association, Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, Children's Medical Ventures, Family Voices, Institute for Family-Centered Care, Maternal Child and Health Bureau, MedImmune, Mothers of Supertwins, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Association of Perinatal Social Workers, National Perinatal Association, National Rural Health Association, Newborn Individualized Development Care and Assessment Program Federation International, Preemie Magazine, Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and Zero to Three.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Office, March of Dimes Foundation, White Plains, NY, USA

    S D Berns & J S Gooding

  2. Mothers of Supertwins, East Islip, NY, USA

    M D Boyle

  3. Family Voices, Boston, MA, USA

    B Popper

Authors
  1. S D Berns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M D Boyle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B Popper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J S Gooding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

the Preemie Health Coalition

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S D Berns.

Additional information

Disclosure

The Preemie Health Coalition funded this survey, conducted by USA/DIRECT Inc., with a grant from MedImmune Inc. In addition, BioScience Communications, New York, NY, USA, assisted in the preparation of this manuscript.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Berns, S., Boyle, M., Popper, B. et al. Results of the Premature Birth National Need-Gap Study. J Perinatol 27 (Suppl 2), S38–S44 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211841

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211841

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links