Information, anknytning och stöd till föräldrar med ett nyfött barn med diagnosen Downs syndrom
- litteraturstudie
The birth of a child marks a new era for the parents. It is the beginning of something that will never end, because they will always be the child´s parents. This study investigates what happens when an infant is born whit Downs syndrome (Ds), and thus does not resemble the child the parents had expected. The purpose of this literature study was to describe the information and the support that the parents of a newborn child with Ds think that they need. The literature search was made in the database of Medline (via Pub Med), Academic Search Elite and manual search. Twenty one scientific articles were used in the results. The analysis resulted in four describing questions about parents? experience of having a child with Down syndrome, the support that they thought that they needed, the information they got and the timing of it and also parents? connection to the child. The result showed that many parents experienced it hard to share their parenthood with health professionals. Sometimes the parents did not know how to act and observe around the child. Parents describe that support fails to materialise from family and friends. The most important time of connection to the child is the first five weeks after birth. The sooner that the parents got the information the better satisfied and calm the parents became, and when the diagnos is given it should, if possible, be with the mother and the father together when they are told about their child?s condition. The infant should be present when parents are informed that the child has Ds. The infant should also be referred to by name, so that his or her worth as a human being can be stressed. It is important for the parents to be offered some time to ask question about the diagnosis. Health care professionals should keep their personal opinions to themselves and the parent?s should be provided with up-to-date information about Ds. After the initial diagnosis or suspicion is shared with the parents, they should be offered a private hospital room and be introduced to a support group, and to be treated individually and not like everybody else.