Mothers Challenges after Infants Discharge from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACTBackground: Mothers with premature infants face certain challenges such as uncertainty on how to deal with their infant s condition and care for it after discharge from neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Methods: A qualitative design was used to explain mothers challenges after their infant s discharge from NICUs in Isfahan, Iran, 2015. Purposive sampling was adopted to interview the mothers who could provide us information about the challenges after their infant s discharge. Data collection was performed by interviewing mothers. Data saturation was reached after conducting 23 in-depth, semi-structured interviews. All the data was analyzed by qualitative content analysis.Results: Four themes and nine categories were identified. The themes were incompetence in breastfeeding, dependence on hospital and nurses, feeding tube as a reason for stress, and constantly worried mothers.Conclusion: Mothers have difficulty in meeting their infants basic needs after discharge. Supporting these mothers can enable them promote their infant s health.

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Keywords: Challenges ، Discharge ، Home care ، Mother s ، NICU ، Qualitative study