Supporting infants and parents in the perinatal period (SIPP): co-creating an improved journey
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
There has been a 70% increase in infant A&E attendance across England in the last decade, much of it non-urgent, highlighting the need to improve parental confidence and services for infant care. A multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals was established with the aim of understanding and evaluating the support given to new parents in the early postnatal period. We recruited parents and caregivers of infants born in a large district hospital. Participants were recruited in the postnatal ward and neonatal unit. Participants were offered face-to-face or virtual interviews with an interpreter where required. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted between February and September 2022 (16 virtual, 1 face-to-face). Thematic content analysis was used to manually identify codes and refined to develop a common coding framework which was used to identify final themes and subthemes. Following the initial set of interviews, a focus group with 12 different participants was held to validate the themes. Two main themes were identified: (1) service access, continuity, consistency, and personalisation of care are highly valued, and (2) preparation and support during transition is important and individual. Within theme 1, we identified facilitators (health literacy, consistent messaging, telephone line), barriers (staff shortages, communication between healthcare workers, discrimination), and person-centred care as sub-themes. In theme 2, participants highlighted the importance of their expectations of normal, support from family and friends, and experiences using applications and social media. Effective support and care in the postnatal period are vital for ensuring and promoting the health and wellbeing of mothers and their babies. These findings were presented to local maternity services and service users by the research team, resulting in local service improvements.
Editor(s)
Simeoni,, Umberto
Date Issued
2025-05-12
Date Acceptance
2025-02-07
Citation
PLoS ONE, 2025, 20 (5)
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Journal / Book Title
PLoS ONE
Volume
20
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2025 Benzaken et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40354358
PII: PONE-D-24-18876
Subjects
Humans
Female
Parents
Infant, Newborn
Infant
Adult
Male
England
Perinatal Care
Health Personnel
Focus Groups
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
e0305786
Date Publish Online
2025-05-12