Introduction: There is growing evidence that many parents with learning disabilities, when given adequate support, can parent successfully. Childbirth is a significant life event that marks a woman's transition to motherhood and is a time when parents first learn to nurture their children. Postnatal care aims to facilitate this learning experience as well as promote the emotional and physical well-being of both infant and mother. To date, no research has explored the support mothers with learning disabilities receive during the postnatal period. To fill this gap in the research and help inform service provision, this study aims to explore how mothers with learning disabilities experience postnatal care. Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six mothers with learning disabilities. The data were collected and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Mothers experiences of postnatal care were conceptualised within four superordinate themes: challenges of providing support, how support was delivered , learning to cope and challenges to building trust. All of these had accompanying subthemes. Discussion: The results are discussed in the context of relevant literature. Consistent with previous research which has been carried out with parents with learning disabilities, participants were found to be highly dependent on informal support. The participants acknowledged the value of professional input and their perceptions of how this support was delivered had important implications. Learning how to cope with the demands of their new role raised issues not dissimilar to those of parents without learning disabilities. Challenges, however, were faced in establishing trusting relationships with professionals. The findings were found to have implications for clinical practice which are described and suggestions for future research made. Conclusion: The findings suggest that participant informal supports play a key role during the initial stages of parenthood particularly with providing practical support in areas which present challenges. Professional input was valued when delivered according to the typical pathway of care post-birth. It is recommended that consideration is given to how the support is delivered to participants. This should essentially seek to empower parents rather than undermine them as how support was perceived by parents impacted on their subsequent engagement with professionals.

Bakgrund: Studier visar att spädbarnskrik är påfrestande för föräldrar och tillgång till stöd kan bidra till att föräldrar klarar denna påfrestning bättre. Distriktssköterskan inom barnhälsovården i Sverige har en unik möjlighet att ge stöd till föräldrar, få studier beskriver dock vad distriktssköterskan ger för stöd till föräldrar som lever med just ett skrikigt spädbarn. Syfte: Att beskriva distriktssköterskans stöd till föräldrar som lever med ett skrikigt spädbarn. Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ ansats där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med tio distriktssköterskor. Intervjumaterialet analyserades sedan med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Vid analysen av intervjumaterialet framkom tre kategorier och åtta underkategorier som bildar studiens resultat. Utreda skrik inkluderade två underkategorier: att hjälpa föräldrarna bena upp skriksituationen samt att utesluta fysisk sjukdom hos spädbarnet. Hantera skrik inkluderade tre underkategorier: att informera om spädbarns behov, att ge råd om åtgärder som kan minska skriket samt att rekommendera avlastning. Stärka föräldrarna inkluderade tre underkategorier: att vägleda föräldrarna att hitta egna hanteringsstrategier, att bekräfta föräldrarnas känslor samt att ge positiv förstärkning. Slutsats: Den påfrestning spädbarnsskrik har på föräldrar ställer krav på att distriktssköterskan inom barnhälsovården i Sverige ger stöd till föräldrarna för att de ska ges förutsättningar att kunna skydda och ta hand om sitt spädbarn. Det är dessutom avgörande att verksamheten säkerställer möjligheten för distriktssköterskan att vara tillgänglig för att detta stöd överhuvudtaget ska kunna ges. Ytterligare studier krävs för att kunna fastställa att föräldrar som lever med ett skrikigt spädbarn erhåller det stöd de faktiskt önskar och är i behov av. / Background: Studies show that infant crying is stressful for parents and access to support can help parents cope with this stress better. The district nurse in Swedish child health care has a unique opportunity to provide support. Few studies, however, describe what kind of support the district nurse give to these parents. Aim: To describe the district nurse’s support for parents with a crying infant. Method: The study has a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten district nurses. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings: The analysis of the interviews revealed three categories and eight subcategories that form the result of the study. Investigating the crying included two subcategories: to help parents analyse the cry situation and to exclude physical illness in the infant. Managing infant crying included three subcategories: to inform about infants needs, to advice on measures that can reduce infant crying and to recommend relief. Strengthening parents included three subcategories: to guide the parents to find their own coping strategies, to confirm the parents feelings and to give positive reinforcement. Conclusion: The stress infant crying has on parents requires the district nurse in Swedish child health care to provide support to parents to enable them to protect and care for their infant. It is also important to ensure that it is possible for the district nurse to be available in order for this support at all to be given. Further studies are needed in order to make sure that parents with a crying infant actually receive the support they want and need.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Young children with disabilities have better outcomes when their families and caregivers receive the necessary resources and supports to implement high quality practices. This session will set the framework for how adults learn and how they can learn to implement new practices and modify current ones to have the greatest impact on young children. In this 90 minute interactive webinar session participants will: Discover a systematic way to develop and present new information to effect change in practice, whether in “coaching” sessions with families or professional development sessions with colleagues. Learn how to implement new practices or modify current practices to meet the needs of military families facing unique circumstances such as deployment, relocations, and post-combat challenges. Gain adult learning tools and resources, which they can apply to their work with families and colleagues.

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