BONDING AND PREMATURITY: EXPLORATORY STUDY ON EARLY PATERNAL INVOLVEMENT IN HOSPITALIZATION CONTEXTS

The father's role in the modern family has been less studied and is poorly defined in the literature. Through an interview and qualitative analysis, we intend to explore paternal involvement in the context of hospitalization due to premature childbirth. This is exploratory and transversal study. We used semi-structured interviews to evaluate the emotional involvement of five parents with their children. Content analysis was used to analyse the interviews. The results revealed there are favourable conditions to make paternal involvement possible and beneficial for both father and child. The involvement appeared to be multidimensional and was subsequently classified as positive in this research. These fathers considered that early involvement/bonding with the premature baby was crucial for the future of their relationship. The condition of hospitalization for preterm birth seems to be a situation that, although hard and anxiogenic, also offers possibilities for contact and father involvement with the new-born. Key- words - bonding, content analysis, early relationship, fatherhood, paternal involvement, prematurity.