Abstract
Background: Having an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can disrupt parent well-being, the transition to parenthood, and the typical trajectories of infant and child health. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other sexual and gender minority identity (LGBTQ+) parents, this stress may be compounded by health disparities and fear of stigma and discrimination; however, research is lacking about LGBTQ+ parents of infants in the NICU. Objectives: The purpose of this integrative review was to better understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ parents of NICU infants, with a focus on experiences of stigma and discrimination, sources of strength and resilience, and provision of family-centered care. Method: We searched EBSCOHost, ProQuest, Web of Science, and Google Scholar between 30 May 2023 and 18 September 2023 for empirical studies published in English in peer-reviewed scholarly journals in which LGBTQ+ parents shared their experiences with having infants admitted to the NICU. Results: We identified six articles that met inclusion criteria, all of which were qualitative studies that included 12–14 LGBTQ+ parents of NICU infants. Conclusions: LGBTQ+ parents in all studies reported instances of perceived stigma and discrimination while their infants were in the NICU, whereas parents in two studies mentioned strength and resilience, and parents in three studies described elements of family-centered care. There is a need for rigorous research on family-centered NICU care that includes questions about sources of strength and resilience in addition to challenges. We propose that future researchers use community engaged methods to center perspectives of LGBTQ+ parents.
Document Type
Review
Publication Date
5-2024
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/children11060615
Funding Information
This research was funded by the University of Kentucky Center for Health Equity Transfor- mation (CHET) and Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) pilot grant. This publication was supported by the National Center for Research Resources and the Center for Advancing Transla- tional Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1TR001998. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Repository Citation
Yinger, Olivia S.; Jones, Aubrey E.; Fallin-Bennett, Keisa; Gibbs, Chelsea; and Farr, Rachel H., "Family-Centered Care for LGBTQ+ Parents of Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: An Integrative Review" (2024). UK CARES Faculty Publications. 12.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ukcares_facpub/12
Notes/Citation Information
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).