Life with my baby in a neonatal intensive care unit: Embracing the Family Integrated Care model

Abstract

This paper is a personal narrative that describes the components of the Family Integrated Care Model in a neonatal intensive care unit in Canada. I begin by introducing the reader with a brief story of how my son came to be admitted into a NICU. Next, I discuss three aspects of the Family Integrated Care Model that I found to be most striking: medical rounds, “do-ups” and skin-to-skin contact. I also discuss how my immersion in this healthcare setting for three months was a form of autoethnographic fieldwork, as I experienced the NICU both as a parent and a health researcher. Finally, I outline two recommendations to the Family Integrated Care model that might prove to be useful for healthcare professionals in other NICUs to adopt.

Keywords

• neonates
• premature babies
• parent roles
• ethnography