Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Neonatal Intensive Care.

Clottey, Marissa; Dillard, Dana Marie

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a feeling of extreme anxiety that is brought about by fearful and threatening experiences in which the individual experiences a lack of control. PTSD is often associated with combat, violence, abuse, or natural disaster; however, this view may leave parents facing health crises of their newborns requiring admission to neonatal intensive care units (NICU) particularly vulnerable for under-diagnosis and misunderstanding. Lack of awareness of the NICU-induced PTSD phenomenon leaves these parents unaware of options and emotionally vulnerable when their needs are left unmet and unrecognized. To address this paucity of knowledge, this article examines the prevalence, etiology, and symptoms of PTSD as it is experienced by parents of infants placed in the care of NICU and provides implications on how childbirth educators and healthcare providers can promote awareness, identification, and intervention if NICU-induced PTSD is suspected.

CHILDBIRTH teachers; NEONATAL intensive care; PARENT-infant relationships; PSYCHOLOGY of parents; POST-traumatic stress disorder; NEONATAL intensive care units; PSYCHOLOGY

International Journal of Childbirth Education, 2013, Vol 28, Issue 3, p23

0887-8625

Academic Journal