Parent's support group as a transforming experience for families at a neonatal unit

Objective: To understand the meaning of families’ participation in the Parent Support Group in the neonatal unit. Methods: Qualitative descriptive study in the neonatal unit of a university hospital in Sao Paulo. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with families of hospitalized newborns, and analyzed by Qualitative Content Analysis. Results: The results showed that parents support group is a transformative experience for the family, because it promotes the clarification of their doubts, represents support during hospitalization of the newborn, promotes exchange of experience between parents and better interaction between the healthcare team and the family. Conclusion: The study reveals the importance of parents support groups by the multidisciplinary healthcare team to strengthen the parent-infant affective bond, to alleviate family's suffering and to promote parents' autonomy in the child's care.

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