How to Help Parents, Couples, and Clinicians When an Extremely Premature Infant Is Born

Parents may experience profound stress when their infant is extremely premature or has exceptionally low birth weight. This article presents several approaches that clinicians and ethics consultants can use to reduce this stress when a parent is single and alone, as well as when both parents are present. Offering parents additional options, taking preventative measures, and using approaches based on recent innovations in psychotherapies are emphasized. Since the clinicians who care for these neonates may find it exceptionally stressful and may experience "burn out," especially over time, this article also addresses what may work best for them. Finally it will discuss clinicians, who, despite their best efforts, find that caring for these infants is simply too painful to bear.