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Well-being in parents of infants with neurological conditions: from birth to 6 months after discharge

Journal of Perinatology (2026)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Describe the well-being of parents of infants during intensive care unit (ICU) admission through 6 months after discharge.

Study design

Cohort study of infants with neurological conditions admitted to the ICU between 2018 and 2020 whose parents completed surveys at enrollment, discharge, and 6 months after discharge.

Results

40 mothers and 21 fathers of 40 infants were enrolled. Abnormal anxiety scores were most common at enrollment for mothers (58%), and at 6 months post discharge for fathers (71%). Abnormal sleep was most common at enrollment for mothers (75%), and at discharge for fathers (73%).

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores were abnormal for 47% of mothers and 33% of fathers.

Conclusion

Parents of infants with neurologic conditions are at risk of poor well-being, including symptoms of anxiety, PTSD, and impaired physical function. Further studies assessing the optimal timing for interventions are needed to improve parental well-being.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to all the families that participated in our study. Your willingness to share your precious time was the most vital part of our project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Denise Helena Moreira, Monica E. Lemmon, Rachel G. Greenberg, Sharla Rent & Samia Aleem

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Monica E. Lemmon

  3. Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC, USA

    Rachel G. Greenberg

  4. Duke Global Health Institute, Durham, NC, USA

    Sharla Rent

Authors
  1. Denise Helena Moreira
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  2. Monica E. Lemmon
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  3. Rachel G. Greenberg
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  4. Sharla Rent
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  5. Samia Aleem
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Contributions

DHM, MEL, RGG, SR, and SA made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data. DHM drafted the work; MEL, RGG, SR, and SA revised it critically for important intellectual content. DHM, MEL, RGG, SR, and SA approved the final version to be published and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Denise Helena Moreira.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

RGG has received support from industry for research services (https://dcri.org/about-us/conflict-of-interest/).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

We obtained institutional review board approval from the Duke University Health System IRB with a waiver of informed consent for our study, protocol Pro00093442. The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Moreira, D.H., Lemmon, M.E., Greenberg, R.G. et al. Well-being in parents of infants with neurological conditions: from birth to 6 months after discharge. J Perinatol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-026-02631-y

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