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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Kate SwainstonORCiD
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Objectives The study explores parents lived experience of having an infant with early onset group B streptococcus. Design The study adopts a qualitative approach and a phenomenological framework with written autobiographical accounts as the method of data collection. Methods Twenty seven parents wrote first-hand accounts of their experience of having an infant with early onset group B streptococcus. Participants documented their experiences in their own way, reporting their thoughts and feelings, experiences, and events that were meaningful to them. Results Three themes were developed from data analysis: ‘bonding and grief’; ‘communication and information provision’; and ‘future family’. Conclusions The study findings demonstrate the complexity of emotions within parent’s experiences and highlight grief and loss as a core component of these experiences. Medical intervention, while acknowledged as being vital and in many cases lifesaving, was viewed as a disruption to early bonding experiences resulting in sadness and guilt. Variation in information provision, communication about this infection, and feeling that their infant’s illness and/or death was preventable added to the sense of loss. Breakdowns in interpersonal communications with partners and family were commonly described and experiences of early onset group B streptococcus had implications for decision-making around future pregnancies.
Author(s): McLeod E, Mason C, Swainston K
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: British Journal of Health Psychology
Year: 2022
Volume: 27
Issue: 3
Pages: 777-788
Print publication date: 01/09/2022
Online publication date: 21/11/2021
Acceptance date: 06/11/2021
ISSN (print): 1359-107X
ISSN (electronic): 2044-8287
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12572
DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12572
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