GIVING BIRTH TO PREMATURE BABIES INCREASES RISK OF PTSD
Sixty-two percent of parents with premature babies reported the lack of formal support, such as counseling or taking therapies, while their baby was on a neonatal unit, according to the charity Bliss.
. Of the 589 patients surveyed , 16% were diagnosed with post- traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) after their time in the neonatal clinic.
One patient recounting her experience after giving birth to her son who was born three months early, "After the first time I saw him resuscitated, I developed a crippling anxiety that everytime I walked into the neonatal unit there would be bad news, and this anxiety has never left me."
Out of the 589 parents surveyed, 16% were diagnosed with PTSD after their time on the neonatal unit. more than a third said their mental health was significantly worse,with 8% reporting to have had the the right amount of formal psychological support.
The traumatized mother also said she needed the support when she went back to her hospital alone without her baby or husband or any family and lay and cried the entire night and thinking she might have changed the fortunes of her baby by delivering him early.
"Then there is the heartbreak of seeing parents whose babies were not doing as well as yours. The awe of watching the doctors and nurses fight for a little is inspiring but you see the broken-hearted parents being assisted out of the ward and your heart breaks for them.."
Credit: BBC Health 07/18/18
Sixty-two percent of parents with premature babies reported the lack of formal support, such as counseling or taking therapies, while their baby was on a neonatal unit, according to the charity Bliss.
. Of the 589 patients surveyed , 16% were diagnosed with post- traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) after their time in the neonatal clinic.
One patient recounting her experience after giving birth to her son who was born three months early, "After the first time I saw him resuscitated, I developed a crippling anxiety that everytime I walked into the neonatal unit there would be bad news, and this anxiety has never left me."
Out of the 589 parents surveyed, 16% were diagnosed with PTSD after their time on the neonatal unit. more than a third said their mental health was significantly worse,with 8% reporting to have had the the right amount of formal psychological support.
The traumatized mother also said she needed the support when she went back to her hospital alone without her baby or husband or any family and lay and cried the entire night and thinking she might have changed the fortunes of her baby by delivering him early.
"Then there is the heartbreak of seeing parents whose babies were not doing as well as yours. The awe of watching the doctors and nurses fight for a little is inspiring but you see the broken-hearted parents being assisted out of the ward and your heart breaks for them.."
Credit: BBC Health 07/18/18