Opportunities to Support Black Preterm Infant Caregiver Strengths to Optimize Dyadic Thriving: The Center and Care Study

Objective To understand how caregivers of Black preterm infants define thriving for their children long-term and relevant barriers and facilitators to thriving. Study Design 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted from January 2024–September 2024 with Black caregivers of preterm infants who delivered in the Bay Area, California. Three racially-concordant researchers conducted virtual interviews, coded transcripts using a deductive codebook, and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Themes were generated and refined through study team consensus. Results Participants included 18 female and 2 male caregivers of children born between 23- and 35-weeks gestation. The children were between 9 months and 12 years (mean 6 years) old at the time of the interviews. Most caregivers were born in the U.S., spoke English as a first language, and had postgraduate education. Five themes were identified: (1) Meaning of thriving varies from meeting basic needs to achieving self-actualization throughout their lives; (2) Caregiver engagement and personal strengths have a crucial influence on infant health; (3) Responsive, respectful care and adequate resources optimizes caregiver physical and mental well-being to maximize their strengths; (4) “It takes a village” to support the dyad, including both the hyperlocal home environment and local neighborhood environment; (5) Racial concordance across dyadic medical care and community support systems optimized dyadic physical and mental health. Conclusion Black preterm infant caregivers’ perspectives on thriving for their children are variable and dynamic over time and require intentional dyadic investment and support from local home, neighborhood, community, and medical environments.