“How to Care for Our Fragile Child With Compassion and Dignity”: Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Parents With NICU Experiences

Our aim was to qualitatively explore LGBTQ+ parental experiences, including stress and support, while having a newborn in the NICU. Using a community-engaged approach, we collaborated with a community advisory board of (a) LGBTQ+ parents with infants in the NICU and (b) NICU health care providers who work with LGBTQ+ parents to create semi-structured interviews exploring the NICU experiences of LGBTQ+ parents in the United States. We interviewed 10 LGBTQ+ parents who had a NICU experience within the past five years. We engaged in inductive, reflexive thematic analysis with a strengths-based, constant comparative approach and generated seven themes. Participants experienced both stress and support (queer-specific and general) in the NICU and provided valuable recommendations for LGBTQ+ parents and NICU health care providers.