Mothers who give birth to premature infants requiring admission to high risk nurseries are less likely to initiate lactation than mothers of healthy, term infants (Lefebvre & Duchame, 1989; Meier, Brown, Hurst, Spatz, Engstrom, Borucki, & Krouse, 2000; Riordan & Auerbach, 1998). Lower incidence of breastfeeding in the preterm population is most likely a function of multiple factors. This qualitative, descriptive study was designed to describe the breastfeeding experience of mother-father couples who have a premature infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and to determine the family management style for lactation management used by these couples. The Family Management Style (Knafl & Deatrick, 1990) conceptual framework guided the study; naturalistic inquiry served as the study design. The sample consisted of seven couples who had chosen to lactate their premature infants who were born at 32 weeks or less of gestational age and who had been admitted into the NICU of a large, Midwest children’s hospital. Using qualitative descriptive analysis, data revealed that the situational context of having a premature infant in the NICU was defined both positively and negatively. In addition, the Family Management Style conceptual framework (Knafl & Deatrick, 1990) and the family management style typologies of facilitating, maintaining, and obstructing as identified by Krouse (2002) were supported by the data from this study. This suggests that lactation management behaviors may be reflective of the family’s interpretation of personal roles, values, and authority already in place prior to the birth of the premature infant. Nursing interventions that will promote the development of, or continuation of, positive management styles may ultimately benefit families who have premature infants hospitalized in the NICU and who are at high risk for lactation failure.
Session #1208 - Family
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)