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“Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic

Challenges during the perinatal period can lead to maternal distress, negatively affecting mother-infant interaction. This study aims to retrospectively explore the experiences and needs regarding professional support of mothers with difficulties in mother-infant interaction prior to their admission...

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Autores principales: Nuyts, Tinne, Van Haeken, Sarah, Crombag, Neeltje, Singh, Binu, Ayers, Susan, Garthus-Niegel, Susan, Braeken, Marijke Anne Katrien Alberta, Bogaerts, Annick
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535578/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34682666
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010917
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author Nuyts, Tinne
Van Haeken, Sarah
Crombag, Neeltje
Singh, Binu
Ayers, Susan
Garthus-Niegel, Susan
Braeken, Marijke Anne Katrien Alberta
Bogaerts, Annick
author_facet Nuyts, Tinne
Van Haeken, Sarah
Crombag, Neeltje
Singh, Binu
Ayers, Susan
Garthus-Niegel, Susan
Braeken, Marijke Anne Katrien Alberta
Bogaerts, Annick
author_sort Nuyts, Tinne
collection PubMed
description Challenges during the perinatal period can lead to maternal distress, negatively affecting mother-infant interaction. This study aims to retrospectively explore the experiences and needs regarding professional support of mothers with difficulties in mother-infant interaction prior to their admission to an infant mental health day clinic. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 mothers who had accessed an infant mental health day clinic because of persistent severe infant regulatory problems impairing the wellbeing of the infant and the family. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL). Three themes were identified: ‘experience of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood’; ‘difficult care paths’; and ‘needs and their fulfillment’. The first theme consisted of three subthemes: (1) ‘reality does not meet expectations’, (2) ‘resilience under pressure’, and (3) ‘despair’. Mothers experienced negative feelings that were in contradiction to the expected positive emotions associated with childbirth and motherhood. Resilience-related problems affected the mother-child relationship, and infants’ regulatory capacities. Determined to find solutions, different healthcare providers were consulted. Mothers’ search for help was complex and communication between healthcare providers was limited because of a fragmented care provision. This hindered the continuity of care and appropriate referrals. Another pitfall was the lack of a broader approach, with the emphasis on the medical aspects without attention to the mother-child dyad. An integrated care pathway focusing on the early detection of resilience-related problems and sufficient social support can be crucial in the prevention and early detection of perinatal and infant mental health problems.
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spelling pubmed-85355782021-10-23 “Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic Nuyts, Tinne Van Haeken, Sarah Crombag, Neeltje Singh, Binu Ayers, Susan Garthus-Niegel, Susan Braeken, Marijke Anne Katrien Alberta Bogaerts, Annick Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Challenges during the perinatal period can lead to maternal distress, negatively affecting mother-infant interaction. This study aims to retrospectively explore the experiences and needs regarding professional support of mothers with difficulties in mother-infant interaction prior to their admission to an infant mental health day clinic. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 mothers who had accessed an infant mental health day clinic because of persistent severe infant regulatory problems impairing the wellbeing of the infant and the family. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL). Three themes were identified: ‘experience of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood’; ‘difficult care paths’; and ‘needs and their fulfillment’. The first theme consisted of three subthemes: (1) ‘reality does not meet expectations’, (2) ‘resilience under pressure’, and (3) ‘despair’. Mothers experienced negative feelings that were in contradiction to the expected positive emotions associated with childbirth and motherhood. Resilience-related problems affected the mother-child relationship, and infants’ regulatory capacities. Determined to find solutions, different healthcare providers were consulted. Mothers’ search for help was complex and communication between healthcare providers was limited because of a fragmented care provision. This hindered the continuity of care and appropriate referrals. Another pitfall was the lack of a broader approach, with the emphasis on the medical aspects without attention to the mother-child dyad. An integrated care pathway focusing on the early detection of resilience-related problems and sufficient social support can be crucial in the prevention and early detection of perinatal and infant mental health problems. MDPI 2021-10-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8535578/ /pubmed/34682666 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010917 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nuyts, Tinne
Van Haeken, Sarah
Crombag, Neeltje
Singh, Binu
Ayers, Susan
Garthus-Niegel, Susan
Braeken, Marijke Anne Katrien Alberta
Bogaerts, Annick
“Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic
title “Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic
title_full “Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic
title_fullStr “Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic
title_full_unstemmed “Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic
title_short “Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic
title_sort “nobody listened”. mothers’ experiences and needs regarding professional support prior to their admission to an infant mental health day clinic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535578/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34682666
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010917
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