ABSTRACT
Objective:
to apprehend the paternal experiences related to the care provided to the preterm child at home by comparing the parents participating or not in the care protocol.
Method:
a qualitative research, conducted from July to October 2017, with 24 parents of preterm infants after discharge from a teaching hospital in the state of Paraná, Brazil, who participated or not in a care protocol during the period of hospitalization. The analysis was performed through the Collective Subject Discourse.
Results:
the parents who had the opportunity to participate in the protocol at the hospital reported that this care was important so that they could help their partners with their children at home. However, the parents participating or not in the protocol realize that the mother has a greater bond because of the possibility of greater time availability and because they are the nursing mothers and refer to work as a barrier to child care.
Conclusion:
the parents participating in the protocol report that it had a positive impact on their child care at home, in contrast, non-participating parents reported that having been included or not in the protocol did not interfere with their conduct at home. However, both groups agree that cultural factors and work are barriers to child care.
DESCRIPTORS:
Preterm newborn; Parents; Neonatal nursing; Child care; Neonatal intensive care units