Abstract

PEIXOTO, Elisa Alvarenga; GOMES PEREIRA, Natália Vodopives Pfeil; FREITAS LEITE, Natalia Borges de  and  JUNQUEIRA-MARINHO, Maria de Fátima. Grandparents' visits in neonatal intensive care units:: understanding family dynamics. Rev. SBPH [online]. 2012, vol.15, n.2, pp.17-32. ISSN 1516-0858.

The visits of grandparents to babies admited in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) is an important instrument both for the network's support strengthening and for the baby's inclusion in the family. The goal of the present research is to investigate the role of the grandparents' visits in the dynamics of families with infants hospitalized in NICU. Two case studies of newborn infants admitted to a NICU who were accompanied by the psychology team through individual appointments with the mothers, and the accompaniment of maternal grandmothers during the Grandparents Visits. The data was collected from the child's clinical records and the psychology's crew records. Whereas a baby's birth brings a new configuration to intrafamilial relations, the grandparents's visits accompanied by psychological support shed light on the dynamic of the family's psyche, revealing transgenerational aspects, and thus guiding psychological interventions.

Keywords : Mother-child relation; intergenerational relations; Neonatal Intensive Care Units; Object Attachment.

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