Emotional disorganization: The prominent experience of Iranian mothers with preterm neonate: A qualitative study

Abstract

When a preterm neonate is born and needs to be taken care of in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the mother experiences a different process of mothering. A grounded theory study was conducted to explore the maternal role attainment in mothers of preterm infants. The authors of this paper report the most prominent experience of Iranian mothers with preterm neonates during their stay in the NICU that emerged as part of the process of maternal role attainment. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with mothers in the NICU. We found four categories as emerged from experiences that formed the concept of “emotional disorganization”. We argue that these findings can help caregivers and nurses to provide sensitive and supportive care to mothers of preterm neonates.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the mothers who shared their time and experiences with them in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Box 1 Interview guide.

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Additional information

Funding

The authors also thank Iran University of Medical Sciences for providing the financial support of this PhD thesis project.