Prenatal workshop and support groups for parents of children who will come to the NICU.

OBJECTIVE

Evaluate the impact of prenatal workshops for parents whose baby would be admitted to the NICU because of prematurity or congenital anomalies.

STUDY

DESIGN

The workshop was developed and optimized in a needs assessment and pilot phase. During the prospective phase, future NICU parents were offered participation in the workshop; their perspectives were investigated using mixed methods.

RESULTS

A total of 152 parents participated. They evaluated the workshop at 9.6/10 on average. Almost all (98%) agreed/strongly agreed that the workshop was useful, that it helped them prepare for the birth (95%), made them feel less lonely (90%) and that exchanges with other parents were beneficial (92%). All answers to open-ended questions were positive. After the birth, 90% remembered the workshop and 90% would recommend it to other parents.

CONCLUSION

Prenatal educational workshop provides a unique and useful means to support future NICU parents and prepare them for the NICU hospitalization.