BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Black preterm infants are more likely to die than White preterm infants within the same NICU. Racism may lead to disparate quality of NICU care contributing to disparities in preterm infant health outcomes. The objective of our study was to understand Black mothers' perspectives of the impact of racism on the quality of care for Black preterm infants in the NICU and what might be done to address it. METHODS Using qualitative research methods, we conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with 20 Black mothers of preterm infants in a single Level IV NICU 6 to 18 months after hospital discharge regarding experiences with disparate quality of NICU care. We developed themes iteratively and conducted interviews until thematic saturation was reached. RESULTS The majority of mothers believed that racism impacted the quality of NICU care and described examples of racism in the NICU at structural, institutional, and interpersonal levels. Mothers also provided ideas for interventions that would decrease racism and improve quality of NICU care for Black families, including increased Black representation, increased peer support, and improved staff education and training. CONCLUSIONS Black mothers of preterm infants experienced racism during NICU hospitalization that impacted the quality of care they received. Interventional studies directed toward mitigating these racial disparities may focus on addressing racism during the NICU period and should include input from Black stakeholders at all stages of design, implementation, and analysis.

中文翻译：

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种族主义和新生儿重症监护的质量：黑人母亲的声音。

背景和目标 在同一新生儿重症监护病房内，黑人早产儿比白人早产儿更有可能死亡。种族主义可能导致新生儿重症监护室护理质量的不同，从而导致早产儿健康结果的差异。我们研究的目的是了解黑人母亲对种族主义对新生儿重症监护室黑人早产儿护理质量影响的看法，以及可以采取哪些措施来解决这个问题。方法 使用定性研究方法，我们对出院后 6 至 18 个月在一个 IV 级 NICU 中的 20 名早产儿黑人母亲进行了深入的半结构化访谈，以了解不同质量的 NICU 护理的经历。我们反复开发主题并进行采访，直到达到主题饱和度。结果 大多数母亲认为种族主义影响了新生儿重症监护病房的护理质量，并描述了新生儿重症监护病房的结构、制度和人际关系层面的种族主义例子。母亲们还为减少种族主义和提高黑人家庭新生儿重症监护病房护理质量的干预措施提供了想法，包括增加黑人代表、增加同伴支持以及改善员工教育和培训。结论 早产儿的黑人母亲在 NICU 住院期间经历了种族主义，这影响了他们接受的护理质量。旨在减轻这些种族差异的干预性研究可能侧重于解决新生儿重症监护病房期间的种族主义问题，并应在设计、实施和分析的所有阶段纳入黑人利益相关者的意见。