Exploring Parents Needs Among Newborn Babies at Tamale Teaching Hospital

Background: The progress made in neonatal intensive care delivery worldwide has resulted in optimal health outcomes of neonates, however, newborns and infants still die. Majority of these infant and neonatal deaths, occur in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The experiences of many parents following a poor prognosis of their newborns requiring end of life care suggest that parents usually need support from health care professionals who render direct services to their child, however, the extent and nature of this support is perceivably unknown.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was therefore to explore parents’ needs among newborn babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Methods: The researchers adopted a phenomenological qualitative design using a semi-structured interview guide to collect data. Ethical approval was sought from Tamale Teaching Hospital ethics review committee which is the final authority to give approval for the data collection. A sample size of 8 participants were drawn for the study. The participating parents completed an informed consent form prior to their participation in an interview. The results were analyzed using content analysis.

Results: Effective communication and the provision of continuous, concise and complete information about child’s condition were important to parents during the end-of-life care of their newborns in Neonatal Intensive Care Units; Parents had limited understanding of the nature and benefits of palliative care; Parental support in terms of information and communication, emotional, psychological and spiritual support, as well as shared decision-making are essential for quality end-of-life care at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Conclusion: The study focused on parental support during end of life and a major finding was that provision of adequate and complete information, effective and frequent communication, emotional and psychological support for parents, support from spouses and extended family for parents, involvement in child’s care and shared decision making about child’s condition are the most important parental needs during the end-of-life care of their newborns at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Tamale Teaching Hospital.