Psychological Support

Supporting families

Within the Unit we seek to provide effective support to families to enable them to understand the environment of the unit and the emotional aspects of that environment. We aim to care for your baby, for you as parents and for other members of the family.

We know a great deal about how it can be for parents whose baby is being cared for on the NICU or SCBU. Most of what we know has been given to us by other parents talking about how it has been for them. Usually it is a shock to both Mother and Father to have a baby on NICU/SCBU. There are very real fears about what might happen, it is not at all unusual for thoughts to centre on the fear that your baby may die

What we do know

Intensive care/Special care units can make parents very aware that preterm life is fragile and vulnerable.

Often parents have this fear even if the medical profession suggest that it is unnecessary.

Listed below are some of the feelings that parents associate with the unit:

What parents told us they felt towards the unit:

Terrifying	Hell on earth
Unreal	Devastating
Lonely	Scary
Nightmare	Unattached

What they said they personally felt:

Anger	Frustration
Helplessness	Panic
Guilt and shame	Despair
Resentment	Confusion
Fear	Disorientation
Numbness	Exhaustion
Isolation	Worry
Fragility	Sadness

But also:

Excitement	Hope
Pride	Thankfulness

Having shared with you a little of how it may be, we would like to assure you that if you feel this way you are like so many other people.

Sometimes all these feelings get pushed aside because you are focusing on your baby. It is important that you express your feelings (normally by talking) so that you can be less stressed when you are in your baby's company.

By expressing you feelings you may improve your bonding with your baby and experience many other benefits.

What help is on offer?

One of the helpful services that we offer you in NICU/SCBU is to have a conversation with the psychological family support worker. We encourage all parents to do this and you may have already received a letter on admission about the service.

An appointment to see if the service can help you is easily made through a member of staff.

You may benefit from using the service more than you realise at the moment.

Please ask and we will respond

Remember that in NICU/SCBU we seek to care for families at a very stressful time.

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