Mindfulness-Based Strategies: A Cost-Effective Stress Reduction Method for Parents in the NICU

Abstract

Stress in parents who have an infant in the NICU is well documented in literature. Prematurity and related comorbid conditions, high-tech NICU environments, presence of multidisciplinary health care professionals, altered parenting roles, and concerns of health outcomes in the infant are common stress factors. Further, inadequate management of stress can result in poor parent–infant bonding, poor infant outcome, and postpartum depression in parents. Effective stress management strategies may help parents adapt to their parental role thereby improving infant outcomes. Research has shown mindfulness-based strategies help reduce stress in the general population. Can this strategy be applied in the context of parents of infants in the NICU? Literature is scant on the impact of mindfulness-based strategies on parents of infants in the NICU and on the infant's health outcomes. This article explores the application of mindfulness-based strategies to reduce stress in parents of infants in the NICU.