Mothers' experiences of physiological jaundice in the preterm

Abstract

The aim of this study was to gain insight into mothers' experiences of having a preterm infant with physiological jaundice requiring phototherapy at the Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (NPICU) of the local, general hospital. The study's objectives were to identify mothers' understanding of neonatal jaundice, to explore mothers' views and experiences of interacting with their premature, jaundiced infants during phototherapy and to identify maternal concerns about the baby during phototherapy. To accomplish these objectives, a qualitative approach was adopted and self-designed, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of eight Maltese mothers. These mothers had their infants delivered before 37 completed weeks of gestation and exposed to phototherapy due to physiological jaundice at the local NPICU. All the mothers who met the inclusion criteria for participation and who were approached, voluntarily accepted to participate. The interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis as suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006). The findings demonstrate that despite having experienced jaundice in their preterm infants, overall, mothers had minimal knowledge of neonatal jaundice. Mothers perceived neonatal jaundice as a common condition which is not life threatening. Participants obtained their information on neonatal jaundice from various sources. Furthermore, the findings also revealed that although mother-infant interactions during phototherapy were limited, most mothers made some form of interaction with their infants, primarily through touch and talk. Mothers also identified several barriers to mother-infant interactions during phototherapy. Finally, most mothers did not perceive phototherapy as an emotionally disturbing experience but they reported a number of concerns, mainly for their infants' eyes and vision. In view of these findings, recommendations for practice, education and research were proposed, including the provision of recent and evidence-based information to mothers on neonatal jaundice and phototherapy, the promotion of mother-infant interactions during phototherapy, conducting the study on a larger scale and exploring the experiences of having a jaundiced, preterm infant requiring phototherapy from the fathers' perspective.