Extremely preterm infants need advanced intensive care for survival and are usually not discharged before they reach the time of expected birth. In a family-centred neonatal intensive care unit both parents are involved at all levels of care including the feeding process. However, studies focusing on fathers in this situation are scarce. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of feeding extremely preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit from fathers’ perspectives. The study adopts a qualitative inductive method, reported according to the COREQ checklist. Seven fathers of extremely preterm infants (gestational age 24–27 weeks) in neonatal intensive care in Sweden were interviewed by telephone after discharge in 2013–2014. The interviews were analysed using a qualitative content analysis and confirmed by triangulation in 2021. Six sub-categories and two generic categories formed the main category: “a team striving towards the same goal”. The fathers were equally involved and engaged members of the feeding team all hours of the day. The fathers shared responsibility and practical duties with the mothers, and they provided as much support to the mothers as they could. However, the fathers found it difficult to support and encourage the mothers to breastfeed and express breastmilk when the breastmilk production was low. The fathers experienced a loss when breastfeeding was not successful. The findings indicate that fathers want to be involved with infant care, including night-time feeds, and long and demanding feeding processes. Fathers and staff need to collaborate to provide the best support to mothers during the feeding process. This study may inspire hospital staff to acknowledge and support fathers to become more involved in the oral feeding process when an infant is born extremely preterm.

中文翻译：

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父亲在以家庭为中心的新生儿重症监护中喂养极早产儿的经历：一项定性研究

极早产儿需要高级重症监护才能生存，通常在达到预产期之前不会出院。在以家庭为中心的新生儿重症监护病房中，父母双方都参与各级护理，包括喂养过程。然而，针对这种情况下的父亲的研究却很少。本研究的目的是从父亲的角度探讨在新生儿重症监护病房喂养极早产儿的经历。该研究采用定性归纳法，根据 COREQ 检查表进行报告。2013-2014 年，瑞典新生儿重症监护室的 7 名极早产儿（胎龄 24-27 周）的父亲在出院后接受了电话采访。使用定性内容分析对访谈进行分析，并通过 2021 年的三角测量进行确认。六个子类别和两个通用类别构成了主要类别：“为同一目标而努力的团队”。父亲们全天都同样参与并与喂养团队的成员互动。父亲与母亲分担责任和实际义务，并为母亲提供尽可能多的支持。然而，当母乳产量较低时，父亲们发现很难支持和鼓励母亲进行母乳喂养和挤奶。当母乳喂养不成功时，父亲们经历了失落。研究结果表明，父亲希望参与婴儿护理，包括夜间喂养以及漫长而艰巨的喂养过程。父亲和工作人员需要合作，在喂养过程中为母亲提供最好的支持。这项研究可能会激励医院工作人员承认并支持父亲在婴儿极早产时更多地参与口腔喂养过程。