Experiences of Parents with Neonates in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University Teaching Hospital, Women and Newborn’s Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia: A Case Study of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka District

Introduction: Neonatal health is a major concern globally and in Zambia, until lately there has been little effort to tackle the specific health problems of newborns and most of the deaths which are 24/1000 live births, remain unrecorded. Most of these deaths are caused by infections, prematurity, low birth weight, asphyxia, and birth trauma. Parents of a hospitalized neonate are anxious about their neonate’s condition and do not receive adequate emotional care during the time of hospitalization. They are also prone to lose their jobs, have no confidence in the parental roles and display shame as a social stigma of having an imperfect infant. Method: This study aimed at exploring the experiences of parents whose neonates have been admitted to the University Teaching Hospital, in Lusaka, Zambia. A qualitative approach was used. The study setting was The University Teaching Hospital, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Lusaka. The sample consisted of 4 male and 11 female biological parents to the neonates admitted to NICU. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis and N-vivo version 10 software. And semi- structured observations of parents, neonates and health workers were conducted. Results: Caregivers of neonates in NICU do not communicate adequately to the parents of neonates in NICU. This lack of information about the condition of the child causes stress and anxiety in the parents because they are not allowed to have access to the hospital files of their own children. Parents lack emotional support from the caregivers because the caregivers would shout at them. Parents also complained about the bad attitude of the caregivers towards the mothers. Mothers that just had a Caesarian section are not provided with wheel chairs to move to the NICU to breast feed their neonates. Conclusion: Parents of neonates need emotional support and information about the child. Care givers must provide this information concerning the welfare of their own child. Policy makers should introduce day rooms for parents near the NICU to make it easy for the parents. The NICU supervisors should supervise the nurses on every shift to ensure that neonates and parents are cared for accordingly.