Experiences and impacts of psychological support following adverse neonatal experiences or perinatal loss: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Poor parental mental health in the perinatal period has detrimental impacts on the lives and relationships of parents and their babies. Parents whose babies are born premature and/or sick and require neonatal care or those who experience perinatal loss are at increased risk of adverse mental health outcomes. In 2021 a North-West charity received funding to offer psychological support to service users of infants admitted to neonatal care or those who had experienced perinatal loss, named the Family Well-being Service (FWS). The FWS offered three different types of support – ad hoc support at the neonatal units or specialist clinics; one-to-one person-centred therapy or group counselling. Here we report the qualitative findings from an independent evaluation of the FWS.