Preterm birth is associated with higher morbidity and mortality of the newborn and possible developmental delay. Parents of preterm children experience increased levels of stress, not only in the period after birth but also years later. To gain a better understanding of the particular situation of families with preterm children, parents in the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Understanding Society Study were asked to assess their life satisfaction before, during, and after pregnancy. The results show how rewarding childbirth can be for some parents and how demanding it is for others. While most parents experience an increase in life satisfaction during pregnancy and a peak of wellbeing after birth, the opposite is the case for parents of very preterm infants. Their life satisfaction does not increase and even tends to decrease in the long term. This indicates the need for more support for parents of very preterm children. Read more here.
